Archives August 2018

[lightbox full =”https://missioncriticalintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/1098050_10153933183390235_563308316_n-e1535130578499.jpg” thumb=”https://missioncriticalintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/1098050_10153933183390235_563308316_n-e1535130578499.jpg” title=”Rebekah in Zambia” /]

Where do I find my strength? What do I do when I get that call that shakes me to my core? When i get a knock on my door at eight o’clock at night and I just can’t muster the faith to pray for someone else that is sick? How do I encourage anyone when my own faith is shaken by the worse news of my life? How do I tell a mother, “God has good plans for you.” when her child has died? How do I continue to pray when I haven’t received the answer I was looking for? Where do I find my Strength?

[quote] Psalm 28:7, “The Lord is my Strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him.” [/quote]
[quote] Psalm 18:32, “It is God who arms me with Strength and keeps my way secure.” [/quote]
[quote] Psalm 22:19, “But You, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my Strength; come quickly to help me.” [/quote]
[quote] Psalm 18:1, “I love You, Lord, my Strength.”[/quote]

I love the Psalms. Every time it feels like I can’t draw a full breath because of the circumstances around me, I run to the Psalms to remind myself of Whom my God is and where my strength comes from. I have to scream these verses out loud sometimes to counteract the lies of the devil or my own fears. Strength is defined as “the quality or state of being strong- the emotional or mental qualities necessary in dealing with situations or events that are distressing or difficult.” We all know with out a doubt that in life there will be situations or events that shake you to your core and make you want to hide under your covers. When those times come where we look for our strength will define our life. Will I look to alcohol, relationships, TV, or drugs. We all need something or someone to help us deal with life. But the truth is, there is only one Person that can give us the strength we need.

So how do I run to God instead of trying to do this life on my own or turning to those other places? Let me answer with a story.

So that question I asked about the mother and her child that had died was a question actually asked of me at a Bible study under a Mango tree in Zambia, Africa. As soon as I heard her question, my heart started racing so hard my ears where ringing. I knew my answer would change her life for better or worse. The real question was, how could I believe God was good when children died and mothers had to live with arms that longed for their babies. I took a long breath and silently prayed, “Lord, You know I believe You are good because I have seen You move in my life too many times to doubt You. I also believe You are Who You say You are. Please give me the words to heal this mothers heart.” Then I answered her, “I am so sorry. I can only imagine your pain. I don’t understand why God allows children to die but I know without a doubt, He loves you and He wants to show you His love. He can heal your heart if you let Him.” That day I had no idea how God would answer my prayer and hers but I believed He would. I am overjoyed to tell you, shortly after that conversation, my friend found out she was pregnant and she knew God had given her this child as the answer to her prayer.

 
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From then on, every time she came to our Bible study, she would hand me her little boy to hold because he was her proof that God loved her. God doesn’t ask us to have this life all figured out but we do have to believe He is Who He says He is. He is our Strength.

Love, Rebekah Bullen

At Large Missionary

Mission Critical International

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“Do you want to have a heart always on fire for God? Do you want to know the continuous anointing of the Holy Spirit? Are you anxious to be used in the service of your Lord? Would you always be aflame with the power of God? …Perennial revival is only possible where there is continuous brokenness of heart which comes from making it a point to be alone with God every day.” – Oswald J. Smith

Read the beginning of the series HERE

At the end of the last Aflame For God post I wrote, “We don’t know yet what the next chapter of Aflame For God will look like but we are confident that it will be MIRACULOUS!!! STAY TUNED!!!” How prophetic those words were!!!

Understandably we breathed a giant sigh of relief when the clock chimed midnight on New Year’s Eve 2017. It had been a crazy year of trials and miracles and we were ready for 2018, and though still in recovery and reeling some from the flood, we were excited for a new year. Then January 4, 2018 the Holy Spirit woke me up at 2:30 a.m. I prayed for an hour expecting to go back to sleep but at 3:30 a.m. I knew that wasn’t going to happen. A fire was burning in my soul to not quit, not give up, not assume that my only ministry now would be prayer for the nations. I got up, grabbed my laptop, and began to create a radical “Mission Critical To Do/Prayer List” for 2018. By 6:00 a.m. I had it finished and my heart burned so.

The item at the top of the list was a crusade in Pakistan. That had been the next place I was invited to go when I fell. In fact, two days before I fell, my son, Luke, and I sat on our balcony and he committed to go with me to Pakistan. So one of the things that I put together in my new late night list building was a budget of $12,000 to go to Pakistan. We had no money and no idea where it would come from but began to pray hard that God would allow me to preach for my first time on the Asian Continent in 2018. Rapidly, the money began to come it without us telling anyone but God and very soon we had $12,000! Then we began to realize that it would take more like $22,000 and sure enough more began to come in miraculously and my health and strength grew as well. I was so proud of my wife, Lisa, and daughter, Rebekah, as they wholly embraced this vision and began to work hard to bring it about. We put out a “fleece” to the Lord. “If our Pakistani Visas are approved we will know that this is Your will and Your plan.” Sure enough, quickly our Visas were approved. One morning as we walked into church a dear brother, Shaun Breeden, asked me, “Where are you going next?” I said, “Pakistan” He said, “J.J. and I are in! We’ll video document the trip and I’ll help fund it! Ok if I invite myself?” We said, “SURE!” Praise God!! Miracle!! The next week, through a series of miracles, we had lunch with a Facebook friend, Ruben Rasaili, from Nepal, a country that had been on our prayer list for years and while we were enjoying an anointed conversation during lunch, Ruben suddenly asked, “Nepal is close to Pakistan, why don’t you hop over and hold a crusade for us in Nepal?” We quickly crunched the numbers and realized we could do it! Long story short and numerous trials and miracles later we flew out on March 28, 2018, one week shy of a year from my nearly fatal fall and miraculous recovery to Pakistan! And then the next week to Nepal! BUT GOD!!!!!!

Oh how we prayed for a fresh anointing! We arrived in Pakistan at 5:00 a.m. on Good Friday and at 8:00 a.m. I was preaching to a packed church of Christians and the Sr. Pastor assured me that the sermon was being broadcast on their Christian television station, Isaac TV, to 47 countries. WOW! Praise Jesus. The grandest surprise came on Monday as we drove out to a more remote portion to preach a crusade among a 90% Muslim population. Imagine our thrill when we arrived and 6 men wearing black T-shirts with white letters which said “church security” escorted us to the open air meeting with AK-47s slung over their shoulders and as we walked rose petals rained down on us from all of the adjacent roof tops and people stepped out of the crowded passageway and laid sewn flowers around our necks. Nothing could have prepared us to step into the clearing and see upwards of 5,000 Muslims standing before a stage waiting to hear from us! I preached my heart out and my wife later said she could literally feel the Holy Spirit blowing across the crowd. When I asked them if they wanted to give their whole life to Jesus, all 5000 lunged forward with an audible gasp raising their hands to heaven. MIRACLE!!! The next night the same thing in another city, and the final night the same again. Only heaven knows all the little and big miracles that aligned to make this trip happen. The flames are spreading.

Next we flew to Kathmandu, Nepal then drove 7 hours through the Himalayas to a remote area and over the next several days preached among the Hindu “Ratcatcher” tribes of Nepal and once again the blessed Jesus surprised us with many many coming to Christ. Not reluctantly or skeptically but hungrily and eagerly. One day we were blessed to teach a whole church full of pastors that had come from as far away as India and the Holy Spirit moments are too numerous to name but suffice it to say that God took the trials of 2017 and turned it into the chance of a lifetime! Glory! Only Heaven knows what’s next…

Aflame for God 27 – Four Continents