OUT OF THE BOX

  “You are to them as a lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice.”   ---Ezekiel 33:32 In our visit to Poland in 1988 Pastor Jim Sink and I traveled in a circle from Warsaw to Ludz, to the Soviet border, to Krakow, to Katowice, and back to Warsaw. We were accompanied by Adam Kuczma who was head of the Methodist Church in Poland at the time. He was a great man of God and desired to share the power of the Holy Spirit with his people. We spoke in churches and shared many testimonies of miracles and the supernatural presence of Jesus as we traveled through the country. The people would listen with interest, and then tell us how much they enjoyed the messages. But they never asked, “What must I do?” They did not engage the message deeply enough to ask how they could experience the Presence of the Lord in the same way.  After the meetings they simply proceeded with the food and fellowship as if what they heard from us was commonplace…and then went on their way. ...

This article describes why the typical church does not see more of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. There are many personal reasons why individuals do not move in spiritual gifts, and we can list some of them in later posts. But this is written to describe the general church atmosphere that quenches the Holy Spirit and hinders the hungry and willing individual.  ----Billy Long   HOW SPIRIT-FILLED CHURCHES HINDER THE MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT   Our expectation of the Lord’s active presence working among us is often disappointed because we tend to create an artificial context that does not allow people to “come forth” in their gifts reaching out to one another. We would see the Lord moving among us and through us if we would give Him opportunities in a more natural, living room setting rather than the artificial and rigid setting of the typical Sunday morning. The absence of relational interaction quenches the real moving of the Holy Spirit...

  Walk with purity of heart and motive, sincerely seeking God’s will and God’s interests. This will produce a clarity in your ability to hear God, and will produce peace. When you desire God’s will, you can rest knowing He stands behind it. This also removes the need to manipulate people or struggle to artificially enforce and reinforce your own plans that might not be in tuned with God’s will, way, or timing. A pure heart will lend itself to producing good relationships. An impure heart becomes affected by selfishness, pride, and wrong motives that hinder relationships through jealousy, insecurity, competition, and ambition.  When your motives are pure, people will trust you and they will entrust things to you. John 5: 30, Philip 2: 3-4,19-21, 4:17,  Psalm 139: 23-24. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Mt 5:8.

  "Hannah answered and said...'I am a woman of sorrowful spirit...I have poured out my soul before the Lord.'"  1 Samuel 1:15 There was a prayer chapel on the first floor of the men’s dorm at the college I attended. It was a small, carpeted room with an altar up front. I would often go there at night to pray. The fellows who went in there to pray usually left the lights off and sat in the soft light that passed through the stained glass in the door. I would sit on the wooden pews or kneel, but often I would lie on the floor. It was there, during my freshman year of college, that I discovered a deeper level of intercessory prayer. I would begin to weep before the Lord, sometimes vehemently, as I cried to Him in behalf of various family members and other areas of concern. During these intense times of prayer, I was not able to speak much or say anything but could only cry before the Lord. I ...

This chapter speaks to a real issue in our culture today. The title addresses women, but the message is also for men. Immodesty and sexual license present a great temptation and snare to this generation. It is also a great deception that destroys lives and families. I hope you will read this article and share it with those who need to hear it. RECONSIDER MODESTY People who are into porn and public nudity often proclaim that the human body is good, and we should not be ashamed to show it. They also charge that Christians, because they believe in modesty, think the sexual aspect of the human body is evil. But to the contrary, Christians frown on public nudity and pornography because sex is sacred, not evil. After all, God created male and female, and said “it is good.” There are two things the scripture forbids us to flaunt in public—that which is evil and that which is sacred. The evil is forbidden because it is evil. The sacred is to be treasured. It is not for the public eye. It i...

  To my dear friends and readers, Thank you so much for visiting and reading my blog articles.  Please feel free to leave a comment or email me and introduce yourself. You can order copies of my books at amazon.com or at my website at www.billylongministries.com.   God bless you, Billy Long P.O. 101, Longs, SC 29568  USA broblong@gmail.com

  The first time I gave a word of knowledge in public was to a lady at a health club in Chapel Hill, NC.  I had never met her before. She was a doctor and her husband was an anesthesiologist. I stumbled around very awkwardly with my words, but managed to get them out. I told her the Lord had given me a word to encourage her. I then said, "You are married to your second husband. Your children are from your first marriage. There is tension in the home because your husband and  the  children do not get along.” She answered, “That’s right. My husband is rather immature."   I then told her the Lord wanted to encourage her and help her and her family. My presentation was not polished, but I was relieved to know the Lord had u sed me in spite of my uncertainty. Every Christian who is filled with the Holy Spirit should be moving in the Holy Spirit to minister to others. My book, Spiritual Power for Everyday Living, gives definitions and examples of spiritual gifts and h...

Areas Where Christians Should Beware    "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits and discern whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4: 1     Dear Friends   I posted this article a  year ago. I repeat it now because of the assault that is occurring against the Bible and the person and work of Jesus Christ in many "so called" Christian institutions. The following post deals with two areas where the enemy of our souls is crafty and works subtly to deceive. The first section deals with “feel good” experiences that cause undiscerning Christians to accept error. The second section deals with deceptive approaches to scripture that are used to lead astray the unwary and gullible soul. My purpose is to help Christians to be aware of these potential snares and pitfalls that are prevalent in our culture today.   In Christ   Billy Long       “FEEL GOOD” EXPERIENCES THAT CAN ...

One of our objectives as Christians is to be a people of godly character. It is easy in our culture for churches to grow large with a lot of sensationalism and entertainment while remaining shallow, superficial, and short on character and spiritual depth. Intelligence, competence, special talents, and gifting are desirable, but they do not necessarily denote character. We desire spiritual gifts and the power of God at work among us, but it is important for us to know that miracles do not build or indicate good character. People from one end of the maturity spectrum to the other have moved in spiritual gifts. Moral excellence is not essential for a person to move in the supernatural for a while. You can be shallow and work miracles. You can be disobedient and still be spectacular like a meteor blazing across the sky. But only for a while… until the “bottom falls out.” Your character can destroy what your gift builds. The man and the work will be tested by fire. Godly character is nece...

  The Bible contains only apparent contradictions. They are not real; they only seem to be. The Bible portrays reality, and real life is complex. The Bible is not written like a novel. In a novel every detail in every part of the book must harmonize with every detail in every other part of the book. For example, if Jane is walking down the path with Joe on page 50, she will also be strolling along with him on page 52. But if she is now walking with Frank, page 51 will have explained the switch. Reality is more complex than a novel, and the Bible does not try to explain every detail and switch. For example, Let’s say I told you in a letter that I went to Florence to visit a pastor friend of mine, and then in another letter I told my sister that I went to Columbia to visit our cousin. If someone who is not my friend should find these two letters, he might think I was lying to you or to my sister, when in reality both are true. I went to Florence to visit my pastor friend and then dro...

In our religious walk we are guilty of “legalism” when we make laws in areas where the Bible is silent, where the Bible gives no explicit command. We cannot be dogmatic where the Bible is silent. We must reverence its silence like we reverence its commands. We can have firm convictions where the Bible is explicit, where it makes commands or instructions that are clear and plain leaving no room for doubt. We can also have firm convictions for ourselves in those areas where we infer a principle where the Bible is implicit and the word is not plainly expressed. However, we cannot impose our convictions on others in these areas where the Bible is not explicit. In areas where the Bible is clear and its meaning is clear and obvious, we can speak dogmatically and firmly. But in areas where the Bible is vague or silent, we must allow others to follow their own conscience in the matter. One of my friends was addicted to surfing, and so he said, “I will not go surfing again.” This makes him boun...

  The Fierce Society By laying aside God, the Bible, and Judeo-Christian values our society is deliberately or unwittingly destroying the under-girding foundation necessary for a peaceful, stable, and prosperous society, and in turn is laying the grounds for an intellectually inferior, undisciplined, morally depraved, lawless, and fierce society. 2 Timothy 3: 1-3, and Romans 1: 28-32 describe the ultimate characteristics of a culture that rejects God and which is "given over" to itself and its sin. Paul says that the times will be “perilous.”   The Greek word is also translated “fierce” and is the same word used to describe the demoniac (Matthew 8:28) out of whom Jesus cast a legion of demons. This man was exceedingly “fierce,” living among the tombs, naked, cutting himself, breaking chains used to bind him, and producing fear in all who came near. It is quite disturbing that the word used to describe this man is also used to describe times and the people that “will ...

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 recommen...

  To all my dear friends from around the world who visit my blog. I want to thank you for reading my posts. I also want to encourage you to leave comments in the comment section at the end of each post. I would love to hear from many of you, and learn how my posts have encouraged or blessed you.  You can post a comment at the end of each post, or you can send me an email at  broblong@gmail.com Blessings to you all, Billy Long

  [The following article is longer than usual. But the reader will find an interesting story of how the Lord spoke and provided "manna" as Laurel and I took a wonderful trip of faith. --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 simply pray and trust the Lord. This would give greater proof that God was leading us. As we d...