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20 Feb Lay the Foundation

Posted at 08:07h in Children's Ministry, Leadership by Billy Burns 0 Comments

There is a popular t-shirt that I’ve seen numerous times since we have been back in Texas that says, “I wasn’t born in Texas but I got here as fast as I could.” Evidently, that is the truth. I read recently that some 350 to 400 people move from other states to Texas every single day of the year. All that one needs to believe these statistics is a drive around the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Construction for new homes and apartment buildings is seen all over the metroplex. In some areas, all that you can see for miles is two-by-fours being hammered and bricks being laid.

Here’s a fact about every new building being constructed. Every construction crew knows the importance of first laying a solid foundation. The blueprints may call for multi-million dollar exterior and interior designs but none of this is possible without first building the forms and then pouring the cement.

downloadWhat you are about to read may seem too basic and totally unnecessary. But, believe me when I state that it is so, so needed. Here it is … make sure that a solid spiritual foundation is cemented through salvation before you build the spiritual walls and install the spiritual cabinets and tile the spiritual floors.

Here is why I’m writing this post. In many pulpits and children/youth services, incredible series are being preached to people that haven’t established a relationship with Christ. They aren’t born again. Week after week, people sit in services and never hear a single message about God’s gift of salvation, receive a challenge to make a decision, and have the time provided to respond to the work of the Holy Spirit. If salvation is mentioned at all, it is squeezed into the service’s final two or three minutes as a last minute add-on at the end of an unrelated subject. Consequently, these sermons are being preached to individuals without a spiritual foundation on which to build a Christian life.

How often should you provide an opportunity for people to be born again? Well, as seen here around the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, people are constantly moving in and creating a need for the foundation crew to do their job. Also, there are those who have been a part of your ministry for years that the Holy Spirit has been able to finally remove the terrain’s roughage so that a foundation could be laid. So, this can’t be a once-a-year, get ‘r done, check-it-off-my-to-do-list occurrence. Provide the Savior the opportunity to save and do so often.

One more quick note. Am I dissing the sermon series and children/student ministry curriculums? Am I saying to only preach salvation messages to the exclusion of other powerful messages and series of messages? Not at all. Many are needed and effective. Use these series to bless your people and cause them to grow in Christ. But, first, lay the foundation. It’s only after the new birth foundation is established that these series and curriculums will build the beautiful, healthy Christian lives.

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13 Feb He’s a Talking Holy Spirit

Posted at 06:45h in Walk of the Spirit by Billy Burns 0 Comments

Confession time … I am notorious for going to the grocery store to pick up two or three items and wind up returning home with three or four grocery sacks containing everything but the items on my list. Now, don’t go and shake your head and roll your eyes at me. I am confident that you have done the same thing far more times than you will want to admit to. How does this happen? To use a phrase that my Grandma Burns used to say, “My brain leaks.” In other words, we need so help with our memory.

Head-earThis week, I want to remind you about something that you already know to be true. Here it is … the Holy Spirit is in the communicating business. We see this throughout the book of Acts. In fact, while reading through the book of Acts several months ago, I listed every time that He communicated. Here is the list of the thirteen distinct instances that Luke records the Holy Spirit speaking or making His thoughts and desires known …

Acts 1:16; 8:29; 10:19; 11:12; 11:28; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 16:7; 20:23; 21:4; 21:11; 28:25

And, here is the part that excites me as I read through these verses. The Holy Spirit hasn’t changed one iota since book of Acts days. He is still communicating and expressing His thoughts and desires … to those with listening ears.

I’ve purposefully made this blog post to be a very quick read. All that I ask you to do now is to remedy your leaking brain by tying a piece of twine around your finger so that every time that you look at the twine you will be reminded of the fact that the Holy Spirit wants to talk to you and then secondly close out this blog post, put your hands upon your ears as a symbolic act and then tell the Holy Spirit that you have ears to hear Him speak and then allow time for Him to speak. Then, get ready for a right now word that will forever change your destiny.

 

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06 Feb BBM – Leading a Holy Spirit Renewal

Posted at 21:16h in Revival by Billy Burns 0 Comments

I can’t believe it. I just looked at my blog’s history and discovered that I have consistently published a post 52 weeks a year for just over 9 1/2 years. I honestly don’t know of any blogger on the web that has published a weekly blog post for this length of time and, with rare exception, focused upon one subject, the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. At one time or another, people from over 80 countries have read at least one of the 512 blog posts, individuals from many diverse denominational backgrounds, generations varying from those considered to be “old school” to those identified as Generation Z (Post-Millennials), people with a common passion of wanting to know the Holy Spirit and work together with Him. With the enablement of the Holy Spirit, the blog has allowed me to share my heart and provide a mini-download, a micro-charging, a rekindling what was already known, a needed word for that given moment.

Slide-1Let me let you in on a secret. The blog has possibly benefited me far more than it has you. Besides the obvious benefit of putting what the Holy Spirit has shown me into print, I benefit from constantly referring to the archives and reading through several blog posts before preaching to a congregation or speaking at a conference. I have found that reading the thoughts and quotes found in these posts provides an avenue for the Holy Spirit to give a fresh download into my spirit.

Here are a couple of suggestions. First, I would encourage you to go through the archives. In writing this post, I contemplated listing some of the posts that I constantly refer to before I minister. That didn’t happen because I had trouble selecting only a handful. I believe that the Holy Spirit will direct you on which ones to read again and again and again. For those reading this blog post on www.billyburns.com/blog, you can gain access to the complete list of blogs by simply clicking on the title at the top of this blog. After you are sent to the new page, you will see the ARCHIVES at the right side of the page. Secondly, I would also suggest that you take it a step further and send particular posts to those in your family or those who minister alongside of you.

One more thing as I close. Thank you for allowing me the privilege of sharing my heart with you. I’m honored to be invited into your life week after week after week. I pray that I am a blessing to you personally and to your ministry.

 

 

 

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30 Jan I Want More!

Posted at 07:49h in Walk of the Spirit by Billy Burns 0 Comments

DictionaryWhile watching Good Morning America this morning, I learned of the new words and terms that have been officially added to the 2017 Merriam-Webster Dictionary. According to the report, more than one thousand new words have been added, including terms from recent advances in science, borrowings from foreign languages, and words from tech, medicine, pop culture, sports, and everything in between. Our language is ever-changing! (To read a list of some of the new words, click on this link.)

Here is one of my favorite new terms that is now officially a part of our language … binge-watch. If you are a person with a subscription to Netflix or Amazon Prime or Hulu, you are one of the reasons that this term is now a part of our dictionary. To binge-watch simply means that you are watching non-stop episode after episode after episode after episode, season after season after season of a television series and still want to watch more when you are forced to term off your television or smart device. I’ll readily confess that I am currently a binge-watcher on a particular Netflix series. Each night, I tell myself that there is time for just one more episode and then another episode after that and … It’s kind of like the thought behind the old Lay’s potato chip commercial “No one can eat just one” and the Jello commercial “There’s always room for Jello”.

As Vickie and I travel and conduct our Ignite & Unite Conferences and Holy Spirit Rallies, we are meeting people from all across our nation that have this same “binge” passion for the Holy Spirit. It’s being seen in both the young and old, people that are hungry and always wanting more of God’s presence. They have tasted of God’s glory and desire more and more and more. To these individuals, their hunger has caused a shift in their priorities. Time isn’t a factor. To these “bingers”, something can be pushed aside to make time to be with Him. They have caught the meaning of the words of that old song, “And the things of earth will go strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” These “bingers” know that one isn’t enough and there’s always room for more.

If it’s time for true confession, I will readily admit that I am one of these people that have tasted and want to continue to taste, hour after hour, day after day. If you too are one of these individuals that passionately loves to be in the presence of the Holy Spirit, please send me a note. It doesn’t have to be a long letter. I just want to learn about those who have the same passion and desire. Together, we are a part of a great outpouring that is changing this nation. Write me … billy@billyburns.com.

One more thought … if you want information about our Ignite & Unite Conferences and Holy Spirit Rallies, click on this link … INFORMATION.

 

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23 Jan Have Miracles Ceased?

Posted at 08:44h in God's Promises, Walk of the Spirit by Billy Burns 0 Comments

Have you ever stopped to think about how this world has changed during the brief amount of time that you’ve been alive? So many great things exist now and are a way of everyday life that didn’t exist when I was a child. (For those of you that think that I am ancient, I will defend myself by saying that I was born AFTER Benjamin Franklin flew his kite and discovered electricity.) And, while there are so many new things, a lot of things that were a part of our daily life when we were children don’t exist any longer. For example, when was the last time that you saw a J.C. Penny’s catalog or a Yellow Pages or a set of encyclopedias or a rotary dial telephone or a cassette? Go ahead and try to explain these items to your children or grandchildren and be prepared to feel like you were born back a million, billion years ago. These things are long gone, ancient relics, and a distant memory.

Here’s a thought that probably isn’t a new thought for you. Did you know that many today look at the miracles recorded throughout the New Testament as a spiritual relic? It would appear that in today’s mindset, God’s miracle-working power ended when the ink dried when the last word of the Bible was written. For some reason, in some circles, today’s church looks at the miracle-working power of God in the same way that your children or grandchildren would look at a VCR. They may have heard about it, told that it was a forerunner of something far different today, and have no clue as to how it would work. Some denominations or movements would have to blow the dust off of their church archives to read about when God’s power was demonstrated in their distant past. Have miracles ceased?

JeffreysTo those with this way of thinking, allow me to share this thought taken from The Phenomena of Pentecost written back in 1931.

“To reject the truth that a saint’s body can be healed miraculously, and yet to teach that
he can expect his body to be changed and taken up altogether at any moment is a strange
contradiction of logic! To teach that God is not working miraculously today and at the
same time to expect the greatest of all miracles to happen any day, is certainly not
compatible with well-balanced reasoning. I believe in the Second Advent of Christ
and continually look for His coming, because I know the day of miracles is not past.” 
~ George Jeffreys

Don’t you love what Jeffreys’ wrote? God’s miracle-working power hasn’t ceased to exist. So, preach it, turn on your “expecter”, demonstrate it, preach it some more, turn up your “expecter” some more, and demonstrate it some more. Allow God’s TODAY miracle-working power to become a TODAY way of life in your Sunday school classroom, children’s church service, mid-week Bible club meeting, youth service, and family services. Why? Because “I know that the days of miracles is not past.”

 

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