Category Archives: Teaching

It Can’t Happen to Us – CAN IT?

Sometimes I’m amazed at the unconcerned mindsets and attitudes the majority of the people who live in this country have.  It seems that no matter what is going on all around us, how much economic turmoil we hear about and see in the news,  or how much chaos the world is experiencing – it seems as though people carry on with a lackadaisical attitude of que sera sera – whatever will be will be. 

How can they do that?  I honestly don’t get it.  I’m a mother and a wife.  My family is my major concern for me.  I am concerned enough about the ones I love to do what I can to spare them any unnecessary pain or grief or lack in Times of Trouble. 

Yesterday and today, I have been watching the news about those poor people in Japan.  The pictures and the videos are heart-wrenching!  My heart goes out to that nation and that people!  Yesterday, I saw a young couple standing in line for milk and diapers for their one-year-old.  Can you imagine not being able to feed your baby or diaper it?

Years ago, right after Katrina, I remember seeing or hearing about an emergency package that people could grab to take with them in  case of a natural disaster or other urgent situation.  It contained everything you need to survive when all of your normal essentials of life were somehow taken from you or otherwise destroyed.  It was from this idea that I asked Jim to develop a “Grab ‘n Go” backpack that we could have for our family in Times of Trouble.  He liked the idea so much that he thought we should share it with others.  It is now available through our on-line store or by calling 1(888) 988-1588.

You know, it’s not the time to criticize people like us for having things like this available!  Please, let’s get past the silliness and just GET READY! 

The prophetic dreams, visions and revelation that the Lord gives his people are for a reason!  We are not to ignore them!  Do what you can today for your family and then rest in the fact that we are in the hands of a loving God.

As this disaster in Japan goes on and on, we are being given the time and the prophetic warning that it is coming to this country through many voices.  Don’t ignore it! Jim has been saying that there will be a 9.0 in Japan and then after that, Los Angeles will have an earthquake.

What if California falls into the ocean?  What if the New Madrid fault gives way in the middle of this country?  I DON’T WANT TO BE AN ALARMIST BUT I DO WANT TO BE A REALIST!  And above all, I want to be wise in preparing for a catastrophe.  I don’t want anyone I love to have to suffer unnecessarily, and I want to have something left over to give to others.    

This truly could be the Church’s finest hours if we WAKE UP, LISTEN AND PREPARE! 

DON’T BE SCARED – BE PREPARED!

Love,

Lori

I Care!

Most of you know about the times of my life, nearly 25 years ago now, when there was great destruction and ruin that surrounded the ministry of PTL.  Anyone with access to a newspaper or television back then, saw the devastation of Heritage USA and witnessed the carnage of all that was built there… or so it seemed.

Though the world saw only devastation and ruin, there is much more to the ‘end of the story’.

At Heritage USA, the partners who gave faithfully made it possible to build a home for unwed mothers. There were many young women and girls who came there to live while their babies were growing and developing safely in their wombs. The girls were cared for with all their needs met in that safe place until the time they delivered their babies.

Through the home for unwed mothers at Heritage USA, these babies were given the gift of life instead of issued the sentence of death in an abortion clinic. I still hear quite often about someone who was born there at the home and what they are doing today. These now adult young people and sometimes their birth mothers, often express their gratitude for the provision they received which allowed them to make the right decisions. There are people who live today because we did what we could back then, and those who made that possible will receive a reward in heaven – the Bible tells us so!

Today, in this day of  unrestrained abortion of epidemic proportion, we have an even more pronounced opportunity to help young mothers make the right decisions about giving the gift of life to their unborn babies. So many babies have been murdered in the womb by this lawless generation, and it’s time now for the Church to stand up and do all that we can to help give life.

We have received the commission in a prophetic word by Cindy Jacobs to build “Lori’s House” and we are going to do it with your help! “Lori’s House” will be a safe place for girls and young women to come and have all their needs met while the little child within them grows strong enough to one day take its first breath. That life may go on to use that breath to glorify God and declare His love to a lost and dying world!

Today, we are filming several shows and partnering with Philip Cameron in the ministry of saving young girls and boys from a life of certain death in the sex trafficking trade. We are helping them to build “Stella’s House” in Moldova. Do you think Jesus is interested in this? Do you think Jesus cares if we give shelter, clothing, food and most of all love to these young girls and boys? Do you think Jesus cares?  You know He does and I care too!

In addition to helping Philip save lives in Moldova, we are going to build “Lori’s House” right here in Peaceful Valley at Morningside. We need your help. Just as those who helped Heritage USA’s home for unwed mothers are seeing the fruits of their labors in living beings who are precious to God, you can now sow into the lives of those yet to be born, those whom God has designed to be here on this earth in the Last Days.

When you help to give the gift of life, you will receive rewards in heaven. I didn’t say that, Jesus did! In Matthew 24, Jesus is talking to his disciples and giving them detailed information about the physical signs of the Last Days. The disciples continued to question him about the end of the age, and Jesus then expanded their understanding by telling them who will be chosen to spend eternity with Him in heaven. Here is what he said in Matthew 25:31-46

“The Son of Man will come again in his great glory, with all his angels. He will be King and sit on his great throne. All the nations of the world will be gathered before him, and he will separate them into two groups as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The Son of Man will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to the people on his right, ‘Come, my Father has given you his blessing. Receive the kingdom God has prepared for you since the world was made. I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your house. I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

“Then the good people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you alone and away from home and invite you into our house? When did we see you without clothes and give you something to wear? When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you?’

“Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the least of my people here, you also did for me.’
“Then the King will say to those on his left, ‘Go away from me. You will be punished. Go into the fire that burns forever that was prepared for the devil and his angels. I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you did not invite me into your house. I was without clothes, and you gave me nothing to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you did not care for me.’

“Then those people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or alone and away from home or without clothes or sick or in prison? When did we see these things and not help you?’

“Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, anything you refused to do for even the least of my people here, you refused to do for me.’ “These people will go off to be punished forever, but the good people will go to live forever.“Love,

Jim

Ghetto Christianity

There’s a phenomenon in the inner city called the “ghetto mentality”.  I learned a lot about the way people in the ghetto think when I was in Master’s Commission in the inner city in Phoenix.  This mentality encompasses many things, but for the sake of this blog, we’ll focus on anyone who tries to better him/herself.

In the ghetto, the thinking is largely that one will never improve his or her circumstances, and anyone who tries will be belittled and intimidated until they give up the dream of ever achieving anything or becoming anything else.   “Who do you think you are – you think you’re better than us?”  Keeping the proper order is important in the ghetto.  If you upset the rank, then others will be forced to take a hard look at themselves and the excuses they have adopted for not even trying. 

It’s even worse than that.  In the ghetto, people assign importance to learning how to “get over” on the system and therefore, knowing how to get what they want without any effort.  Those who work are ridiculed.  Why work when you can learn how to get free handouts, i.e. entitlements.  This mentality spills over into every part of life and it becomes a very cynical, shallow  and dishonest way of dealing with life.  It takes a miracle to break out of such an existence, so many have learned what they believe is how to be “happy” within it.

You will often hear me say on the show “don’t be a victim!”  That may sound like such an overly simplistic thing to say to some people.  But having learned from those in the ghetto the mentality of always blaming something else for your circumstances or situation in life, it’s a commonly held belief that needs to be torn down.

Even in the inner city, there are ways to help yourself and to dig out of those circumstances if you put your mind to it – which often entails hard work and preparation!  One thing is for sure, if you do nothing and blame everything and everyone else for your station in life, you have NO chance of ever changing it!

And so it is in the church.

In many ways, those who try to be anything other than a nominal Christian are often ridiculed.  Their mentality is to let others do their studying, praying and spiritual warfare for them.  Then when the events or circumstances of life turn out badly, they are angry, unprepared and can’t muster the faith they need to overcome.    

Jim says he learned the same lesson from Billy Graham many years ago.  It went something like this; if you stick your head up above the crowd, you’re going to get the tomatoes!

It’s time for the church to rise above the ghetto mentality.  It’s time for the church to pay attention to those who are telling them to prepare and be ready.  It’s time for the church to work together to help one another.  It’s time to encourage one another to rise above the “happy church” mentality and to get ready for difficult times that are surely coming.  We can’t depend on the government to do it for us.  The church should be prepared to help ourselves and others.

Pay no attention to those who ridicule you for being prepared.  Learn to dodge the rotten tomatoes!

It’s time to break out of the “ghetto mentality” within our ranks!

Love,

Lori

Prayer a Priority in the Last Days

So often, the attitude of many Christians today is:  “When all else fails, pray.”  Or how many times have you heard this:  “Well, brother, just pray about it.”  Just pray?  How about starting with prayer?  How about believing that if anything good is going to happen in the church, it must begin with prayer!

To the first-century Christian community, prayer was their first choice, not their last resort (Acts 2:42).  They prayed about almost everything:  spiritual direction, food, finances, and supernatural healing.  Throughout the Scriptures, we are encouraged to pray, even commanded to pray, yet prayer continues to be one of the last resources we turn to when problems, decisions, or opportunities arise.

I was greatly encouraged when one of the prophetic words that I was privileged to hear at a conference concerned the prayers of the body of Christ.  The prophet shared a message that clearly proclaimed God planned to restore divine healing in the last days.  Not contrived or manipulated “healings”; not psychosomatic healings (although mental and emotional healings will no doubt be included); not sweeping, broad generalizations regarding healing; not the sort of “pay-per-prayer”  manipulation of people’s sincere faith that has been so prevalent among healing ministries.  But God is going to restore genuine, supernatural healing on a widespread basis.

The prophet shared a vision he had received from the Lord, in which hundreds and hundreds of people were praying for each other and multitudes were being healed.

Interestingly, the prophet reported that, in the vision, the people who were praying appeared to be “faceless”.  He interpreted this to mean that the healings would not take place through “high-profile,” well-known ministers, but through common, everyday folks.  Furthermore, the message implied that God will continue to do miraculous healings so long as we do not care who gets the glory.  And when we really stop to think about it, all the glory for any genuine healing belongs to our Lord God, not to the vessel through which He chooses to bring about the miracle.

As you know, Lori and I believe in doing all you can to take care of yourself so that you will be healthy.  As much as you can affect your health by eating right and making other healthy choices, you should do it.  But when you need a supernatural healing, don’t hesitate to call on the Lord in prayer!  He is the Healer and all those times recorded in the Bible of supernatural healing are for today as well.

Love,

Jim

A Good Heart

When Jim and I married, we had both lived a long time on this earth and a lot of history had been written in our lives before we came together as husband and wife.  So, there was much to learn about each other!

As with most people when they fall in love and begin to realize they are moving toward a life-long commitment, we would sometimes talk into the night – hour upon hour – just trying to ‘get to know’ one another.  The truth is, we are still learning!

After we had been married a while, I remember reading a story told by a man who had worked for Jim at PTL for ten years.  He drove a bulldozer and helped to clear PTL land for development.  He recounted that when he and Jim were clearing trees from some remote acres of PTL property to build campsites and bunkhouses, Jim discovered an elderly black couple living in a shack just off the edge of the property.

The man had only one arm and his wife was bedridden.  They didn’t have running water.  The man was cutting wood with a chain saw with his one hand, and they used that wood in a stove to cook their meals.

Without saying anything, Jim had a new trailer pulled in for them to live in.  Then, he had the trailer hooked up to a septic tank and had a well drilled for them so that they would have running water.

Nothing told me more about Jim’s heart than that story.

Matthew 12:35, “A good man out of the good treasure of His heart brings forth good things.”

Some of us need to mine the treasures in the hearts of our loved ones more often.  We need to dig deep and remember the good things that flow out of the hearts of the ones we love.

It’s all too easy to let life’s everyday pressures make us callous to the real heart of a person.  Recall something good about your loved one today.

Phillipians 4:8:  “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

The Garbage of the World or God’s Foods? You Choose!

Yesterday, our guests on the live show included three esteemed health and nutrition experts; Dr. Roy Curtin, Michelle Bacarella, and Frank Davis of Food for Health, International. We have had some lively and revealing discussions about what we eat, how our bodies react to what we eat, and how we can maximize the nutritional value of our foods with the right supplements.
 
In our discussions, we talked about the fact that this nation, in particular, has sacrificed our health on the altar of convenience. We are quite satisfied with the garbage produced by huge corporations as food because it tastes good and it’s fast.   We don’t need to take much time to think about or prepare this stuff.  Not many of us know the harm it’s doing to our bodies and the sad fact is that there isn’t many who care!
We would rather stick our heads in the sand and accept the outcome of sickness and eventual, often premature death, than learn what to eat and how to supplement our foods with healthy natural vitamins and other necessary nutrients. Why?
Proverbs 23:2 says, “And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.”
Okay, we know this is not meant literally, but it lets you know that dealing with your appetite is a very serious matter.

Ask yourself what’s more dangerous than putting a knife to your throat when it comes to your appetites?  What exactly happens when we continuously give in to what our appetites want?  What if we ate everything we wanted to eat, whenever we wanted to eat it?  Chances are, our weight would balloon to a point of morbid obesity and we would eventually develop weight-related illnesses, which could ultimately lead to an untimely death.

“Most studies show an increase in mortality rate associated with obesity as obese individuals have a 50% to an ultimate 100% increased risk of death from all causes. Even those moderately obese people have their life expectancy shortened by 2 to 5 years.” (Pesic, Milos. 2006 Tracking Obesity Statistics.)

The medications we take to treat these illnesses caused by improper nutrition often have serious and sometimes mortal side effects!  What sense does that make?  I don’t know about you, but I can’t live with this kind of nonsense!

Is fulfilling your appetite worth losing your life? I am trying to provoke you to take better care of yourself because I love you and want you to be well!

It’s sad, but many times people would rather feed on the garbage of the world than feast on the goodness of God’s foods.
That’s a prophetic picture of the world and the Church as well… but that’s another day.
Don’t miss even one of these informative shows with Frank Davis, Michelle Bacarella, and Dr. Roy Curtin.  It just may save your life!
Make your decision today to take better care of your health!
God loves you!  And so do I.
Love,
Jim

 

Pruning With a Dull Ax

Recently, a businessman from our local community came to see me with a prophetic word.  It had the ring of truth so I gave him my full attention.

He explained how the Lord had showed him that the tree (my current life) had a bumper crop of tiny little apples all over it.  There were too many of the apples (fruit) and some of them needed to be thinned away in order for the tree to be healthy and for the remaining apples to grow and produce larger healthier apples.

However, in trying to accomplish this, I had been trying to prune the tree with a dull ax.

Pruning with a dull ax is not productive.  You can’t go into a situation with blunt force without creating damage and wearing yourself out in the process.

Here’s what chopping with a dull ax does:

  • Damages the tree
  • Sometimes the blow glances off and you injure yourself
  • Tires you out
  • Makes the work harder and more dangerous
  • More time consuming
  • Takes more effort
  • Makes the healing time longer
  • Saps the energy from further growth

Immediately after being cut, a tree oozes sap or resin, which dries to create a protective shield. But that’s just the beginning of the healing process.

The tree then diverts energy from its growth (the fruit it produces) to the damaged area while the wound is healing.

Obviously, then, you want to help ensure that the tree will heal as quickly as possible.

One way to do this is to make sure you create a smooth surface by a clean cut using a sharpened tool.  The clean cuts you get with sharpened tools are healthier for your tree.

Not only will the tree heal more quickly, and thus begin growing sooner, but it will be exposed to less damage from diseases, insects, fungi and weather extremes.

The tree will then produce bigger and healthier fruit!

There’s a wealth of wisdom in this prophetic analogy.

I had been wearing myself out trying to do too many things, oversee too many projects, and involving myself in too many of the details of the ministry.   There were far too many apples on my tree.

At times, I had attempted to prune away some of these things that were sapping the life from me.  But the ways I had done this were ineffectual and I found myself diverting even more energy into trying to keep going than actually moving forward!

The Lord said that the End of the Age is the Harvest Time.  I want to do my best to bring in the Harvest, don’t you?  I want to have a bumper crop of rich ripe fruit to present to Him and I want to see His smiling face and hear “Well Done!”

I am determined to sharpen the ax and prune with wisdom so that the Harvest of the Lord will be accomplished in these Last Days.

I have a dream – and I live for the Vision!  If pruning is what is needed, pruning is what I will do!

Ecclesiastes 10:10 Using a dull ax requires great strength, so sharpen the blade. That’s the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed.

Dreams and Dreamers

Martin Luther King made the statement “I have a dream” an icon in the history of racial equality.  But the dream Martin Luther King had was much more than just an icon.  It was the vision for his life and the reason he lived.  He did something about his dream – but it cost him his life.  He was very aware of the dangers in pursuing his dream, but he was compelled by the vision for his life.

Jesus said “No one can take my life from me.  I sacrifice it voluntarily.  For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again.  For this is what my Father has commanded.”  John 10:18 NLT Continue reading →

The State of the Nation

Continuing with the words the Lord gave me for 2011, perhaps the most sobering was in regards to the spiritual condition of America.  The Lord was very clear when he told me that in one year, the glory of this nation will be gone.  America is losing her glory.

Isaiah 21:16 “This is what the Lord says to me:  All of Kedar’s honor will be gone in another year.  I will count it like workers count the years left on their contracts.” GWT

I wish I could say that most of us who are Christians can see the depth of the depravity into which this nation has descended, but it’s a proven fact that we can’t.  Recent fact-gathering surveys have reported that among professing Christians, views on issues of morals, money, and marriage are virtually indistinguishable from the world.  That’s a sad indictment for this nation, in which there is a reported 82.3% of the population who are Christians.  What kind of Christians live and behave just like the world?

The Bible tells us that “Righteousness exalts a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” KJV

Instead of the Light of righteousness, truth and justice dispelling the darkness of sin and depravity in this nation, we have permitted the darkness in every area of life.  Our churches have become social centers focused on who can provide the best entertainment in order to grow the biggest support base.  Our schools are godless institutions that prohibit prayer or any expression of faith, especially Christian faith.   Our courts are in contempt of the Courts of Heaven – having mastered the incredible task of calling evil good and good evil.  Our entertainment sources are cesspools of filth that provide precious little that is fit for a true Christian.  

How did we get here?  How did this happen?  Where do we go from here?

Stay tuned!