5-30-2010

Greetings all who wrestle for the Kingdom,

900 Bottles

Sometimes we read the Word and blow by the context and thus lose some of the meaning in the text.  This happened to me last week while reading John’s Gospel.  Chapter two starts with the wedding in Cana of Galilee.  The party ran out of wine and Mary said to the servants “Whatever he says to you, do it”.

Pretty simple.  No bodies healed, no mountains moved, just a little water that becomes wine.  Sort of a “starter” miracle.  Right?

No, the Holy Spirit took me back and had me read it again.  This time he asked me to calculate the amount of wine and the economic value of the wine that was created.  OK.  Six jugs of about 30 gallons each.  One gallon makes about 5 bottles of wine.  6x30=180 gallons.  180x5=900 bottles of wine.

Wow.  That is a lot of wine for a party even by today’s standards.  Today a bottle of wine might cost between $8.00 and $12.00 so it is also quite a bit of money.  But wait, the head waiter said it was not poor wine or even good wine but the “best” wine.  So what is that, $50.00 to $100.00 per bottle?  Somewhere between $45,000.00 and $90,000.00 street value was created by the servants pouring water into some jugs.

Wow indeed.  But that is not even the best part.  When we were in Israel the summer of 2000 we went through the region of Cana.  There are no 7-11’s.  Few shops and no Kroger.  Even if you wanted to run out and spend the $45,000.00 there was no way to get 900 bottles of wine.  It was a logical and logistical impossibility.  This was not a second rate or second class miracle.  This was a big deal.

Now the cool part. 

Are you facing a logical or logistical impossible situation?  Do you need a miracle?  If we follow the story line then what you need to do is listen to Jesus and “Whatever he says to you, do it”.  It was that simple then.  It is that simple now.

God is in the miracle business and He is looking for sold out people who will listen and obey so He can overcome the logical and logistical impossibilities with His wonders and miracles.

Lord, help me be that simply obedient person.

Thank God with us for these reports of the results seen by people who were praying and obeying over the past month …

REPORTS:

• The Gathering Grand Rapids was a great night of worship and prayer in and for GR.  Thanks to all who prayed or assisted.

• A man was working with a torch on a ladder and a hot piece of stone flew into his shirt.  He could not stop what he was doing with the torch so he let the hot stone stay inside his shirt while he finished and he said “it basically gave me a second navel and was pretty painful”.  When he got to the “W” that night he noticed during worship that all the pain was gone and his “new navel” had been healed.  God, You are amazing.

• A man was praying for a new engine to put in his broken car and a good used one was found within his budget.  You care about our small details and we thank You caring Lord.

• A non-Christian family was in financial crisis and an intercessor who attends the “W” prayed a financial blessing over them.  Two days later they got an unexpected check for school living expenses that covered all of the financial needs of the family.  Father, You answer us when we pray.

• A three year old girl was having trouble with a wandering eye that was causing vision problems.  She began to go to therapy but the entire course of treatment was going to cost over $8,000.00.  The family could not afford this.  They prayed and found a book that explained some exercises they could do.  Within three days the girl said “Mommy, Jesus gave me new eyes.  I used to see two Mommies and now there is only one”.  What a mighty God we serve.

• A man was having a headache and realized that it was a call to prayer for a young man with Cancer who was suffering with headaches.  He found out the next week at the “W” that the point he was called to pray was exactly the hardest point and the pain abated at that time as well.  Yes.

• This past week the young man with Cancer reported that the Tumors had shrunk and he is rejoicing that God is working in his body.  Yes indeed.  God is working in and through His body, and in this young man’s body as well.

• A man could not find his car keys and needed to take his kid to school.  He stopped and prayed and had a vision of himself sitting at his desk in the house.  He went and sat down at his desk and still did not see his keys.  He prayed again and heard “under”.  He reached back and under the desk and there they were.  We bless you Lord for guiding us into all truth, even the truth of where we left our keys.

• A man was working outside under a temporary frame structure and a storm came in.  It was blowing so hard that the plywood sheets started to lift on the roof.  He went up and put around 800 pounds of stone on it to hold it down.  He went back to work in the structure but then had the strong sense that he should go outside and work on something else, even though it was raining and blowing like crazy.  He left the structure and a few minutes later the wind blew the whole thing down and the 800 pounds of stone crushed the area he had been working in.  Father, Your sheep hear Your voice and follow You still today and we thank You for this protection.

• An intercessor that is a part of the WWT did not want to go to church but his daughter did so he took her.  He was intending on just leaving quickly after the service but was prompted to stay.  He was then prompted to go and get his anointing oil from his truck.  He did and when he came back in he realized that the people scheduled for prayer up front had not come so he went down and was able to pray for a woman with severe pain and as he prayed she was healed instantly.  Father, even when we do not feel holy or strong You act in response to our obedience.

• A man was traveling and he heard “stop here for the night” so he did.  It was late and he went to a restaurant across from the Hotel.  As he was getting ready to leave a young man was berating the cashier and stormed out of the restaurant in a huff.  The man asked what was up and she said “oh, it is just my boyfriend and he is really mad at me”.  The man said “the Scripture says ‘do not go with an angry man’ so perhaps you should not go with him”.  She told him that it was her ride home and so he turned to the manager and asked if someone could take her home and the manager agreed to help out.  The next day as he grabbed a bite to eat before he left town the manager told him that the boyfriend had wrapped his truck around a pole the night before and was killed.  Now that was a God moment.

• A man who sells cars needed some sales quickly or he was going to lose his job.  He asked for prayer and sold 7 cars in three days.  Surely our God is awesome.

• A woman had lost a magazine that she had borrowed and needed to return.  She had looked everywhere and could not find it.  She stopped and listened and heard “baby” so she went into the baby’s room thinking that she might have set it down in there but did not find it.  She prayed again and heard “baby” so she went to another part of the house where baby items were kept and as she looked under that area she saw that the magazine had fallen into a box somehow.  It was under other items and she would probably not have seen it for months if she had not been listening to God.  Provision is Your name and we thank You.

• A man with Cushing’s Disease had his Adrenal Glands removed last week.  The surgery was 5 hours and not the usual 6 to 9 hours and he was sent home after 2 days instead of the expected 6 to 7.  God, You are the Healer who accelerates recovery.

• A man we told you about in March who sells cars was again in a tight spot because he had not sold any vehicles and it was the lst week of the month and once again he could possibly lose his job if he did not sell any cars.  He asked for prayer again and sold seven cars in three days.  Wow, what more can we say.

• A man came out to his car and the battery was dead.  He stopped and prayed for a few minutes and then tried the car again.  It started right up.  Father, You are the source of all power.

• Jeff came to an OMWB practice with a strained tendon in his wrist.  It was swollen and painful.  We prayed for the pain to leave and the swelling to go down and within a few minutes he had no pain and the swelling was gone.  (We think it must be because God loves our music).  Well, He loves us and we love Him so there you go.

• A story came in of a local Pastor who was meeting with two of his board members trying to decide if they should borrow a large sum of money to expand their facility due to growth.  When they got done talking the Pastor left to go to the Bank to begin the process of applying for a loan.  As the two men who were left continued to chat a man came up to their table and said “God told me to tell you ‘do not borrow the money’”.  They had never met so they asked him why he would say that and the man said “this has happened three times in my life.  I am driving with my family from Chicago to a camp up North for a meeting and the Lord told me to exit the highway and directed me to this spot.  He then said to tell the two men who are having the discussion not to borrow the money”.  They looked outside and saw them man’s van with his family in it and he then left and went on his way.  We bless you Lord for giving us guidance when we ask.

• A woman who has been having severe pain issues has been prayed for at the “W” for many months via her mother’s requests.  She went on a vacation and was pain free for the entire week.  Father, You are the healer and we thank You.

• An intercessor that is a part of the WWT was praying for her brother and heard back that he had had a motorcycle accident but was not hurt.  Thank You Father for calling your people to pray.

• A young baby who has been prayed for at the “W” from the time she was in the womb and not expected to live visited the “W” last week with her proud and happy Grandmother.  Lord God, You do good work.

• A woman asked for prayer at a conference and as we prayed her pain left.  Yes.

• A woman has been praying for her prodigal daughter who moved out West and heard back that she has been in Church for the past two weeks and last week allowed the Pastor to pray for her for healing.  Sometimes one step at a time Lord, but You redeem to the uttermost.

• A young man with Cerebral Palsy had bed sores and was prayed for via “the box” and the sores went away.  God, You are great and we praise You.

Here are some additional things to be aware of as WT members;

OPPORTUNITIES:
*          Please continue to pray for the staff and workers at your church.

*          Please continue to pray for Ted and Claudia and the OMWB as they speak and minister;

>  May 23^rd and 30^th Ted will be speaking at Sunfield United Methodist Church for a community wide meeting also called The Gathering.  Worship will be by Old Man Worship Band.  These are Sunday evening events and will begin at 7PM.

>  June 6^th the OMWB will be playing at the Festival of the Arts in Downtown GR.  10:45AM to 11:30AM on the Fountain Stage.

>  June 26^th OMWB playing @ the Bethany Christian Services Picnic in GR.

>  July 18^th OMWB doing a concert in Clarion PA.

>  August 2^nd Ted will be conducting a daylong Seminar titled “Principle Based Project Management Fundamentals for Churches and Non-Profits”.

The June team leaders for the Sunday Wrestling Team activities will continue to be Steve and Ruth Zwierzinski and Joe Martino.  They will be “on the ground” before and during the services to assist with any questions or prayer needs that might come up.

You are appreciated and prayed for often.

Ted and Claudia Kallman

Wrestling Coaches

“One chief cause of the amount of unbelief in the world is that those who have seen something of the glory of Christ set themselves to theorize concerning him rather than to obey him.  In teaching men, they have not taught them Christ, but taught them about Christ.”  George MacDonald

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation.  We do not act rightly because we have virtue and excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly.  We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”  A quote attributed to Aristotle.

“I pledge my head to heaven for the gospel.” Keith Green