OUT OF THE BOX

When the Salt Loses Its Flavor The book of Revelation refers to the apostate church as a harlot when she beds herself with the world system and false religions of the world, and when she compromises the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ in order not to offend the world and its ungodly values. The prophet Ezekiel said that Israel’s idolatry with the gods of foreign nations was spiritual harlotry. “You offered yourself to everyone who passed by and multiplied your acts of harlotry” Ezekiel 16:25. In their commentary on Ezekiel 16, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown said,  “The wanton advances were all on Israel’s part; the idolatrous nations yielded to her nothing in return. She had yielded so much that, like a worn-out prostitute, her tempters became weary of her. When the church lowers her standards and lowers her testimony for God to the carnal tastes of the world, with a view to conciliation (with the world), she loses everything and gains nothing.” A church with a compromi...

Here are three testimonies of miraculous healings from way back in 1967. These experiences occurred in our community during the months before I went off to college. FEET HEALED OF RARE FUNGUS INFECTION Here is Kim’s testimony of a miraculous healing he received when he was just a little kid back in 1967. He sent me the following email this week. Riding in the bed of that black Chevy pickup sure does bring back memories. Your message though brings back even more. Do you remember healing my feet through Jesus Christ? I had some kind of fungus or skin infection on both feet. Dr. Thomas said it was rare, treatable, but hard to heal. I had to soak my feet every night in some kind of a foot cocktail that had turned my feet black. When you saw my feet one day and asked about the blackness, dad told you about it. You asked me if I wanted God to heal my feet right then and I said yeah. You prayed and laid your hands on my black, and probably dirty since we ran around barefoot all the time...

"HE'D BE IN TROUBLE IF HE DIDN'T." Leah was seven years old. She was trying to go to sleep but began to cry, saying, “Daddy and Mommy, my tummy hurts!” Laurel and I prayed for her, but the pain intensified, and she cried even harder. Finally, I turned to Laurel and said, “We need to take her to the emergency room.” Still in tears, Leah yelled out, “No! I don’t want to go to the hospital. Pray for me. Jesus will heal me.” So, Laurel and I laid hands on her stomach, and prayed in Jesus’ name. The pain instantly and completely left. Leah suddenly became very calm and relaxed. I leaned over and kissed her and said, “Leah, wasn’t that nice of Jesus to touch you and take the pain away?” She, with eyes half closed and ready now for sleep, peacefully and quietly said, “Yeah, cause if He didn’t, He would be in trouble.” I laughed under my breath and marveled at the simple faith of a child. WHAT'S HAPPENING? I remember my daughter Leah holding her two-year old son in her l...

  AN UNUSUAL TRIP   The following article is an interesting story of how the Lord spoke and provided "manna" as Laurel and I took a wonderful trip of faith. I pray it will be encouraging to the readers. Many of you may remember this story. I posted it 3 years ago. ---Billy Long   “LET ME NOT BE ASHAMED.” During the latter part of 1972 Laurel and I were living in South Carolina. We were preparing to drive to California to attend her sister’s wedding but had only enough money for one-way. We sought the Lord and felt very strongly that the He wanted us to make the trip. However, I did not want to be irresponsible and embarrass myself by being stranded in California and having to call on family or friends for finances to return home. So we prayed and began our journey with peace and faith knowing we had heard from God. The Lord would provide for the trip back, and we were excited to see how He would do it. We agreed that we would not tell anyone of our need, but would si...

I met Laurel in 1971 at the beginning of my senior year at ORU. We initially planned for the wedding to take place the following summer, but a friend and fellow student challenged me. “Billy Long, you are a man of faith. If you really know in your heart that she is the one, why don’t you go ahead and have the wedding over Christmas break?” His words were the nudge that I needed. So, we set the date for the following January 9. In order to do that, we would have to drive from Tulsa to Longs, South Carolina, a community about 8 miles from North Myrtle Beach. We would pick up my mother and the three of us would drive from SC to Laurel’s family in Orange County, California. Then after the wedding, my mother would fly back to SC, and Laurel and I would drive back to Tulsa for me to complete my senior year at ORU. But all that driving is hard to do when you don’t have a car. So Laurel and I began to plan for the wedding and pray for a car. There is a prayer chapel on the ground floor of the ...

  BROKENNESS Psalm 51:17 “A broken and a contrite heart, Oh God, You will not despise.” The essence of brokenness is surrender and humility. It speaks of how we respond to God and to his leading and discipline in our lives. Brokenness refers to a contriteness that is willing to die to self and its desires. The absence of brokenness is characterized by a stubborn and self-centered struggle to resist change, correction, and God’s rule. Our unbroken human nature can be compared to the wild horse that is unwilling to submit to the rider and the bridle. The spirit of rebellion is basically the desire to cast off the yoke of God’s rule, to go its own way, and to satisfy its own desires. Much stress and distress come from holding to self and its interest and from the refusal to surrender, and “give up” before the Lord. A broken person will surrender and allow God to take him in hand. He responds properly to God's dealings. Surrender means that a person has yielded to God's hand, God...

  SELF-CENTEREDNESS. This article probably describes SOMEONE YOU KNOW. Interestingly, all the main points in the paragraphs below came to me while listening to a lady complain about her friends. She exemplified most of the principles discussed. I originally posted this article 3 years ago. But I think it’s worth reading again.  —B Long SELF-CENTEREDNESS “Self-centeredness” and “selfishness” are two different things. A selfish person wants his own way, his own advantage, pleasure, and comfort without regard for others, and does not care how it affects others. A self-centered person evaluates and judges everything according to how it relates to or affects him, and is oblivious to how it affects others. A selfish person will deliberately hurt you. A self-centered person will hurt you and not realize it. A self-centered person has great difficulty in relationships because he has inner struggles with what he assumes others think about him. He wonders what they really meant by ...

   It was the summer of 1969. I was 20 years old. My friend Larry Rodeffer and I had just finished our second year of college at ORU and were preaching revivals during the summer in Ohio, Kentucky, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. On this tour we held a series of meetings for 9 nights in my home community of Longs, South Carolina. We used the Ebenezer Methodist church building. Though thriving and growing now, it was abandoned with no congregation at that time, but in good condition and maintained by a family who hoped to see church activities revived again someday. Larry and I were granted permission to use the facility for our meetings. The little church building was filled almost to capacity with about 80 people attending our meetings nightly. The atmosphere was electric, and people came expecting to see the hand of God at work. Larry and I preached the Gospel, sharing the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was raised from the dead as ...

Tharon Hardee was my maternal grandfather. The grandchildren called him Pa Pa. He loved to play the banjo and was well-known for playing at square-dances all around the area. The photo below was taken sometime around 1950. Below is an article that I posted last year. I think it will be beneficial to those of you who are new visitors to my blog. -Billy Long THE PRETENDING In 1964 Pa Pa was in his seventies and a member of the church, but living a life inconsistent with his Christian testimony. I was 15 years old at the time, and remember sitting in Pa Pa’s family room and listening intently as my mother, her sisters, and brother expressed to him their concerns about his eternal soul. “Daddy,” they told him, “we are worried about you and are concerned that you are not walking with the Lord as you know you should.” “Why, Jesus is my all in all,” he responded emphatically, and acted surprised that they would question his behavior. He was not ready to admit the truth about where he was, a...

A little longer, and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me...   — John 14:19a   I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet… Then I turned to see the voice that spoke to me… and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength…  — Revelation. 1:10, 12, 16   …He rose again on the third day… and was seen… by Cephas, then by the twelve… by over five hundred brethren at once… He was seen by me also… — 1 Corinthians 15:4, 5, 6, 8 The natural man comprehends God in the same way as a blind and deaf man would view a brilliant sunrise or listen to beautiful music. He would be oblivious to the wonders around him no matter how brilliant the sight or how loud the sound. The revelation of God works on the same principle. The person who has a heart after God will see or hear Him through the smallest sign while the one who has rejected God in his heart will see nothing or will explain it away, no matte...

  MY BOOK Spiritual Power for Everyday Living defines and explains spiritual gifts and the supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit. it gives many personal examples of miraculous testimonies and gives the reader a clear understanding of the prophetic ministry as practiced in the lives of the first Christians. It also gives a clear teaching on praying in tongues and its role in aiding the believer in a deeper experience of intercessory prayer and praise. A careful reading of this book will bring clarity and remove misconceptions relating to the role of spiritual gifts, prophesying, and tongues in the New Testament Church. This book will challenge new and mature Christians alike as it gives a clear exposition of the work of the Holy Spirit for our everyday life. The book is filled with testimonials of real life experiences given in the context of a balanced and practical application of the work of the Spirit. One reader stated, “I have thoroughly enjoyed your book, and have re...

       Wisdom cries out in the streets. So why are we not filled with it? It’s not that we reject wisdom itself, but rather we reject the things that produce wisdom, and we tend to choose the things that prevent it. The problem is that while we seek wisdom, we reject righteousness. Doing the right thing is often the way to find and do the wise thing. Integrity guides and righteousness directs. A friend of mine once said, “If you do right, you’ll go right.”     People often mistake “deep” intellectual philosophizing as wisdom. But that can be so empty. Spouting out deep intellectual and philosophical thought may sound impressive, but that does not necessarily indicate true wisdom. Philosophy without Jesus puffs up like a balloon. True wisdom from the Lord brings inner substance, like a bowling ball.     A person’s knowledge can exceed his wisdom, and while age and experience are great tools for leaning wisdom, they can be wasted. The ...

  What blessing, strength, encouragement, and life we receive from those who serve the Lord faithfully and without complaint! How our hearts are touched by those whose lives demonstrate such surrender to God’s will, and whose love for the Lord is revealed in their willingness to lay down self, take up their cross, and follow Him. Below is an email from a friend whose life has been such an example to me. An Email From A Friend October 28, 2002. Dear Billy and Laurel, ...I've been meditating recently on a comment by FB Meyer: "There is a providence of loss, a ministry of failing and fading things, a gift of emptiness…" This has been relevant to me, obviously, in the face of our family's loss and the necessity of giving 5-6 hours a day, 7/7, en route to or at the hospital. Let me say, there is no place I'd rather be. I don't begrudge it at all. My heart is to be there. But it has been a huge pruning as far as having time, energy, strength for "ministry"...

I have released my second book, FAITHFUL ENDURANCE: CHRIST-CENTERED ENCOURAGEMENT TO HELP YOU FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. Covering a range of topics, FAITHFUL ENDURANCE will:  Provide spiritual insight to encourage your walk with the Lord.  Challenge you to face spiritual battles with courage and without fear.  Inspire you with testimonies of miracles and God’s faithfulness in everyday life.  Convict you to walk in higher levels of integrity and holiness.  Exhort you to trust the goodness and wisdom of God in how He works in your life. You can purchase single or multiple copies through my website at www.billylongministsries.com You can also purchase copies on Amazon by clicking this link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1962802051 I invite you to order your copies and encourage friends to order theirs. Billy Long . All reactions 98