OUT OF THE BOX

[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 ...

“Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts.” 1 Corinthians 14: 1 So many people approach the subject of the manifestations or gifts of the Holy Spirit from a purely doctrinal or analytical point of view. To do this is to miss the real significance and wonder of it all. A person’s ability to fully appreciate the magnificent gifts and tools the Lord has placed in his hands depends on the depth of his vision and motivations. What a person sees determines what he reaches for. What a person desires (and why he wants it) determines the passion and enthusiasm with which he pursues it. The apostle Paul covered the issues of desire and motivation when he said we should “pursue love and desire spiritual gifts.” When we move in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit we are expressing our hunger for God’s active presence among us and we are showing our love and care for those around us. Jesus healed people because He was moved with compassion. We will move in the gifts of the Spirit as we are mov...

When God arises issues are no longer left to the opinions of individuals. God pronounces sentence or blessing based on the reality of where people and things actually are. That which is of God will be blessed; that which is not of God will be judged. Saul and his house will fall in battle. Eli will drop over dead. The earth will open and swallow Korah and all that are with him. Shemei will face the sword of Benaiah. Alexander the coppersmith will be delivered to Satan to receive his just wages. The plaintiffs, the defendants, and the prosecuting attorneys will all have eloquently stated their cases, but God will arise to judge. All of them will be silenced together as He gives the verdict. The builders will be dwelling in the structures they have built. Then God will arise sending the storm to expose the nature of the building material down to the very foundations to test the building and the builders. When things become muddy, cloudy, and confused, when the enemy is entrenc...

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 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 Lord ...

“Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them….And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.”  Mark 10: 13-16   Claire Claire was 8 years old. She had two problems that troubled her—an embarrassing problem of bed-wetting and a wart that had been on the bottom of her foot for over a year. She had heard her brother Reuben’s story about the doctor cutting a wart from his foot and she did not want that. She determined in her heart that she would wait for Mahesh Chavda to visit to our church and let him pray for her. Claire, along with our other children, had come to love and respect Mahesh. They had heard him tell stories of the many healings that had taken place in his ministry around the world. And  we had friends who had experienced healings in his meetings. Therefore, little 8-year old Claire decided that Jesus would heal her when Mahesh came to minister. She entered the meeting with a child’s faith. She went...

The article posted below is a reprint from December 2009.   -Billy Long

“And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands (the idols)…”   Acts 7: 41 “And…he…made a molded calf…and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.”  Exodus 32: 4-6 “It is…the sound of singing I hear….He saw the calf and the dancing.”   Ex 32: 18-19. The above verses show that we can disobey the Lord and still have a party---at least for a while. One of the problems with human nature is that it so often loses sight of both reward and consequences. When we get caught up in the temptations of the moment or in what we want right now, we forget that there is a reward for faith and obedience, and a consequence and reaping for evil and disobedience. And so like Israel, we make our “golden calves” and have a party. Moses had gone up the mountain to meet God face to face and to receive the commandments and the laws for Israel’s life as a nation. The people became impatient, d...