Archive for March 2015
The Storm Painter
The Storm Painter
The painter of the storm had a mission. He had painted many a dark sky with thunderclouds before, but from a distance. He had painted the storms from the shore in the shelter of his studio where he was safe from all the elements of destruction. Today would be different. Artist Joseph Turner chose to view this storm outside his comfort zone.
He wished to paint what a storm looked like to him from the inside. This wasn’t to be just any April Showers moment. This storm would be a major blizzard, a rogue storm. Yet not just a bad snowstorm, but a snowstorm at sea. He wanted to view the storm from a boat while the waves threatened to sink his ship.
The seas were tumultuous, the waves high and rolling hard. There was no way he could stand on the deck and not slide off. He had to make a choice. He chose to be lashed to the mast of the ship for hours in the blinding freezing snowstorm. He wanted to paint it so real that on the canvass it would be hard to tell the sea from the sky.
‘Modern Painter’ website paid a huge compliment to Turner’s painting which he simply called Snowstorm.
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775-1851
Modern Painters described the Snowstorm, as “…one of the very grandest statements of sea-motion, mist, and light, that has ever been put on canvas.“
Maybe We All Are Painters
While almost none of us make our living as a professional painter, we still know a bit about the storms of life. Many know what it’s like to be tied to the mast and feel the snow, the sea spray, to be slapped in the face with freezing winds and have no defense from the storm. Imagine what it’s like to tied:
- For hours with the snow beating your face.
- For hours in the howling wind.
- For hours with the ship struggling to survive the storm-tossed waves.
- For hours seeing life-threatening skies and seas.
- For hours in the bitter cold.
- For hours of being wet and miserable.
Maybe We’ll Never Paint A Portrait Of Surviving The Storm…
Until We Too Have Been Tied To:
- Heartache
- Cancer
- A Heart Attack
- A Bad Marriage
- Spousal Unfaithfulness
- Financial Devastation
- Rumor
- Loneliness
- Afflictions
- Rejection
- Depression
- Lifelong Illness
- Abuse
Maybe We’ll Never Be Able To Paint A Portrait Of Bearing One Another’s Burdens…
Until We Too Been Lashed To The Deck Of:
- Stormy Seas
- Tribulation
- Shame
- Embarrassment
- Overwhelming Disappointment
- Bitterness
- Shattered dreams
- Tears
- Brokenness
- The Death Of A Child
- A Backslidden Spouse
- An Addicted Love One
We cannot accurately paint the storm for others to see until we have lived through one our self. Naysayers may try to find fault with our story. But we have been there. We somehow survived. We felt the mast rub on our back. The rope burns will be there for a while. We suffered hypothermia. Our body shivered with the freezing snowstorm.
We thought of those we knew sitting at home in their warm little world. They could not help us now. It was no longer just a storm. It had become our storm. We chose not to waste our storm but share it with others in the hopes they would be helped or blessed.
Maybe We Will Never Truly Paint A Portrait Of Revival…
Until We Have Been Lashed To The Deck Of:
- A Burden for souls
- A Prayer Room
- Travail
- Tears
- Vision
- Compassion
- Outreach
Maybe We Will Never Truly Paint A Portrait Of A Father’s Love…
Until We Have Been Lashed To The Deck Of:
- A Wayward Child
- Tearful Forgiveness
- Showing Mercy
- Patience
- A Special Needs Child
- Unconditional Love
- Courage
- Sacrifice
Maybe We Will Never Truly Paint A Portrait Of Deliverance From False Doctrine…
Until We Have Been Lashed To The Deck Of:
- False Doctrine
- Error
- Tradition
- Family Pressure
The Storms we survive should make us stronger.
The Storms we survive should be used to help others see.
The Storms we survive can later turn into a thing of beauty for us.
The Storms we survive are a gift from God.
(When we hear a testimony from someone who has survived a storm, it gives us all great hope!)
What Portrait Is Our Life Painting For Others To See?
The Passing Of Bishop Rodney McDonald
When I was a small lad of ten or so, my father, Evangelist Carl Ballestero preached a revival in Texas City, Texas for a Pastor Titus McDonald. My memories of those days are faded somewhat with time. But I remember being there.
I remember also meeting Brother Titus McDonald’s son, Rodney. He was about my age. I never dreamed that someday we both would find ourselves in the ministry and that I would preach for him like my father preached for his father, and later preach revivals for his son.
In the early sixties, I attended Western Apostolic Bible College in Stockton, CA. That is where I met Bishop Rodney McDonald’s lovely future bride. Her name then was Sister Karen Hedger.
Imagine my surprise years later to find out that my old acquaintance was married to someone I had met out in California years ago.
Over the last decade or so our paths have crossed with the McDonald family quite frequently. It has been my great honor to preach several revivals for Pastor Nathan McDonald, their son. The church is in great hands with his leadership and is experiencing a wonderful move of the Lord.
Last month, I preached a revival at their church and one afternoon was honored to go out to eat lunch with the Bishop and his wife in downtown Oklahoma City. No one knew that it was to be one of my last moments to be with them together.
I was awaken with the news today of his impending passing. He was given “minutes or maybe hours” to live. My heart hurt with the news. I became overwhelmed with emotion.
This morning Bishop Rodney McDonald went from this life into the Glory World. He had struggled with health issues for several years now, and it hurt to even watch him try to breathe on his bad days.
I Salute Him and Honor Him.
- The Godliest of men.
- Pristine in his principles and motives.
- A man of honorable ethics.
- Accurate in doctrine.
- Devoted to his wife.
- Devoted to God.
- He gave his life to the Work of God
- Uncompromising.
- A Preacher’s Preacher
- He held fast to the Old Paths.
- He lived what he preached.
- He was given to hospitality.
- Everyone that knew him loved him.
Goodbye My Dear Friend. I Love You!
I will always treasure our moments, meals, and the memories we made. We were just together a few short weeks ago. It doesn’t seem possible!
Join with me in prayers and support for the whole family, especially Sister Karen McDonald, their son Pastor Nathan McDonald and church, Apostolic Faith Tabernacle, Oklahoma City, OK.
Forty Years Of What’s This?
Forty Years Of What’s This?
Imagine living with “I don’t know what this is” situation for nearly a lifetime. Israel did in the wilderness. They woke up one morning and were presented with something they had never seen or ever heard about. It didn’t go away. It perplexed them.
Manna – What Is This?
King James
Exo. 16:14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.
Exo. 16:15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.
Jubilee Bible 2000
Exo. 16:15 And when the sons of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna (What is it?): for they did not know what it was. Then Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.
New International Version
Exo. 16:14 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat.
Living With Things We Don’t Understand May Be What God Gave Us To Eat For Now.
- Some of us live a lifetime with I Don’t Know.
- We all have lived with things we don’t understand.
- We all are asked to partake of things that don’t make sense.
- We live a life surrounded by perplexing things.
The Very Thing They Didn’t Understand And Got Tired Of… Was The Thing That Preserved And Sustained Them In The Wilderness.
- Complainers are everywhere.
- Some would rather have the leeks and garlic diet of Egypt.
- They wanted things like it used to be.
- All of them wanted meat and not more of What’s This?
How Long Have You Gone Through Something And Didn’t Know When Or If It Would Ever End?
- You couldn’t see the purpose or benefit?
- Cancer.
- Health issues.
- Financial problems.
- Marriage problems.
- Hurts.
- And besides, you would have rather have any thing else but this.
Once Israel Reached The Place God Promised Them, The Manna Ceased
Joshua 5:12 And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
- There was a day when it ended for them. There will be a day when yours ends too.
What Israel Didn’t Know.
- The thing they complained about.
- The thing some even refused to eat.
- The thing they felt forced to live with for forty years…
…Was Angel Food
Psa 78:25 Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full.
- Be careful about your complaints to God.
- Be careful of your attitude when you live with things you don’t understand.
It Could Just Be That God Is Giving You Angel Food.
Unusual Remedies That Work
Unusual Remedies That Work
Masking Tape
Riding horses cross-country with friends was something I’ve enjoyed doing for nearly fifty years. I am not really a horseman, but my friends are. I am just a rider.
One year a dozen or more of us were camped at the Horseman’s Camp in Brown County State Park in Indiana. One of the riders, Jack Cunningham, cut the palm of his hand very deep while out on the trail.
We all searched our saddlebags but none of us had any antibiotic, gauze or Band-Aids. With his uninjured hand, Jack found a roll of masking tape in bottom of his saddlebag. “Here, this will work perfectly,” he said with great assurance.
I argued with him and said that it wasn’t made for healing or wrapping wounds, but for construction use.
Jack said, “I’m a carpenter. One day at work I cut myself. There were no supplies there either and all I had was this tape. I used it and the next morning, my cut was healed.”
“This cut in my palm will be completely closed and only a pink line will be showing in the morning. You’ll see.”
The next morning we all gathered around as he removed to tape to see for ourselves if this remedy worked or not. To our astonishment, the cut was closed and a pink line looked back at us. We shook our heads in amazement.
Unusual Home Remedies Are Nothing New.
We’ve Used Them Most Of Our Lives.
Hairspray To Remove Pencil Or Ink
I use hairspray to take pencil markings off of the wall, or ink out of my white shirt. After spraying the area, I rub it with a rough cloth similar to a washcloth.
Stop Hiccups With Sugar
Our family has used sugar to immediately stop the hiccups in infants, children and adults for many years.
(A teaspoon of sugar swallowed dry can stop hiccups in minutes, says Andre Dubois, MD, PhD, a professor of medicine in the emerging infectious diseases graduate program at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. – http://www.prevention.com)
Books Are Written About Man’s Unusual Remedies.
Some of them work. Some of them don’t.
A Book Has Already Been Written About God’s Unusual Remedies.
- He always has unusual solutions to our everyday problems.
- Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
- Job 9:10 Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.
- His remedies catch us off guard
Here Are A Sampling Of God’s Unusual Remedies
Israel Had No Weapons To Defend Them In Battle.
- No problem! God sent hornets and drove the enemy off.
- Exodus 23:28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
Gideon? You Have Only 300 Armed Men Against 100,000 Armed Midianites?
- No problem! Get 300 trumpets, pitchers and lamps and you’ll be fine.
- Judges 7:16 And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.
Your Borrowed Axe Head Flew Off The Handle Into The Bottom Of The Lake?
- No Problem. Throw in this stick and the axe head will float to the top.
- 2 Kings 6:5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
- 2 Kings 6:6 And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.
You Got A Wall Six Feet Wide And Fifty Feet Tall That Is Keeping You From Being Blessed?
No Problem. Walk around it once a day for six days and on the seventh day walk around it seven times. Don’t say a word the whole time. Then after the seventh time around on the last day… When the trumpet sounds, lift up your voices and shout. The wall will come down.
You’ve Got 5,000 Hungry Men Plus Women And Children Here With No Food!
- No problem. These five loaves of bread and two little fish will be enough.
- Mark 6:41 And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.
You Have The Palsy And Can’t Move Or Walk?
- No Problem. I’ll forgive your sins and you will be made normal.
- Matthew 9:2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
Are You Barely Able To Get By On Your Paycheck?
- No problem, God says give Him 10% of your increase and He will make the 90% that is left go further than the 100% you originally had.
- Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Do You Need A Financial Blessing?
- Give and it shall be given to you.
- Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
Sir, You’re Blind And You Can’t See?
- No Problem. Here, let me spit on the ground make it into clay and rub it in your eye.
- John 9:6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
- John 9:7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.
Have You Run Out Of Wine For The Wedding Celebration?
- No problem. Fill up those jugs with water. And go pour them into the cups.
- John 2:7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
- John 2:8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
Haven’t Caught Anything?
- No problem. Cast your nets on the right side of the boat.
- John 21:5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.
- John 21:6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
Are You Bleeding To Death And The Doctors Can’t Help You?
- No problem. Just touch the hem of my robe.
- Matthew 9:20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:
- Matthew 9:21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
- Matthew 9:22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
Can’t Pay The Taxes?
- No problem. Go fishing and I will put a fish on your hook that has money in it’s mouth.
- Matthew 17:27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.
Preacher Are You Hungry?
- No problem, I’ll fly your breakfast right in on raven’s wings.
- 1 Kings 17:5 So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
- 1 Kings 17:6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
If you cannot see the Hand of God working just like you imagined it should to fix your problem. Just trust Him anyway. His ways are above ours. They are past finding out. He will always come through for you.
God Not Only Has THE Remedy For Removing Sin, It Is Always Unusual.
After You Repent: God Will Remove All Of Your Sins, If:
- If you will stand in a pool of water and let the pastor baptize you, (by immersion), while he pronounces the words, “In The Name Of Jesus Christ.” Immediately your sins will be gone!
Jesus Said For His Disciples To Do It.
- Luke 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
- Luke 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Peter Said It And Did It At Pentecost!
- Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Baptism In Jesus Name Will Wash Away Your Sins!
Ananias Said To Paul:
- Acts 22:16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
This is the only cure and it is quite unusual. But, I promise you it will work. It has never failed.
God’s unusual remedy to take away all sin and remove one’s past is to simply let an Apostolic Pastor immerse you in water and say, “In The Name of Jesus,” when he baptizes you.
When you come out of that water, you sins will be gone. God will choose to remember them no more against you. They will be cast behind His back as far as the East is from the West.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.