Hearing The Lord

Is The “What” All We Need To Know?

Posted on March 1, 2013 by mcalmond

Very often when we are seeking the Will of the Lord, we are thinking of “what”; what is the Lord’s will? However, when we come to believe that we have heard and understood the “what” of the Lord, we fall into the trap of assuming the answers to the vital questions of the “when” and “how” of doing the Lord’s Will. Truly to know the will of the Lord, is to know all three of the answers to these questions: What, When, and How.

I have had to learn this truth through life’s many trials and tribulations. Yes, sometimes these times of difficulties were simply because I thought that since I knew what the Lord was saying about some point of direction, ministry, plan, etc. That my knowing His What, was in itself a release for me to move forward in the manner and timing of my own choosing. My being so eager to go forth and do the work of the ministry often led me to simply leap ahead and not wait for anymore from the Lord regarding the matter of His Holy Will. I was simply too impatient to wait for any more of His understanding, His insight, His information, only to discover, to mine and others dismay, that I had gotten way ahead of the Lord. I had failed to discern His timing.

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Categories: Absolute Dependency, Accountability, Authenticity, Boundaries, Core Values, Dying to Self Will, Empowerment, Exhortation, Following Through, Grace, Hearing The Lord, Honesty | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Prayer, Communion, and the Word of God

Posted on September 5, 2012 by mcalmond

Acts 6:4 (ESV) But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

The Apostles here in this text are dealing with something that is important in the life of the Church. It is more important than simply who gets what. It has to do with the fair treatment of all and not just a few or even the many. There were a large group of Hellenists Jews who had converted over to the faith of Christ Jesus. There clearly seems to be a problem between them and the Palestine Jews or locals as it were. However, when you read this text you get the clear sense that the Apostles, yes, had to deal with the problem, but they made it clear that they were not going to carry the burden this problem. Others would have to do that. The reason for this was simply the recognition that they needed to walk as Jesus walked. How did Jesus walk? He walked in close communion in and with the Father God. He was a man of Prayer, of the Word, of Communion and Action.

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Categories: Abiding, Accountability, Anointing, Awakening, Calling, Character, Core Values, Dependency, Fear of God, Hearing The Lord, Holiness, Prayer, Preaching, Relationship, The Power of God, Word | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Few Thoughts About Our Pastors

Posted on August 25, 2012 by mcalmond

This is another post by my daughter Dana who has begun to write for her own blog. If you are interested, you can find it here. While this same post is on her own blog, I asked her if I could post it here also.

I read a poll a while ago that asked the readers to share whether or not they had ever been hurt by their pastor.  Of course the comments were full of stories of pastors who were reportedly abusive mean, harsh, had too high of expectations, etc. I do understand that there are a few pastors who should be in a different profession rather than ministry and sometimes people genuinely do get hurt.  But I have always been protective of pastors because I have seen the other side.  I have seen pastor’s being hurt, attacked, criticized, lied about, etc.  I believe that you should err on the side of caution when it comes to criticizing a pastor and jumping on the “bad pastor” bandwagon.  In my experience, there is always more to the story.

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Categories: Being a PK, Believer, Body of Christ, Boundaries, Character, Church, Churches, Discipleship, Finding the Right Church, Following Through, God's Faithfulness, Growing in Faith, Hearing The Lord, Ministry, Ministry Motivation, Pastor, Vulnerability | Leave a comment

The Dismantling

Posted on July 22, 2012 by mcalmond

Note: This is a personal post written by my daughter Dana Summers ***

I wanted to share with you that the Lord has been doing in my life over the last year and half.  This has been a trying year for us, as a couple, a family and for me personally.  The Lord began this year by revealing to me, by His mercy, what he was doing.  In January 2011, as I was sitting in a Bible study, I heard one word to start off my new year: “dismantling”.  “What?  I knew that this word was for me, however I hoped it was for someone else.  What does dismantling mean exactly?    The dictionary defines Dismantle as  1. to deprive or strip of apparatus, furniture, equipment, defenses, etc.: 2. to disassemble or pull down; take apart: 3. to divest of dress, covering.  He then gave me the rest:  Embrace the dismantling, Deal with fear of exposure, Remove walls of protection, Begin to see weakness as strength, Be thankful for the past, repent of regret & disappointment, Let go of expectations, Receive new directions, Receive new wisdom and  Restoration.

Apparently I had been holding on to some things and the Lord thought it was time to deal with them.  His timing is perfect, I had to remind myself of that over and over.  I am not going to lie, this has been a really difficult year/season for me.  The Lord didn’t have to let me in on what He was doing.  I am thankful that He did, but still do not have total understanding.  I have learned not to try to interpret what God is doing but to trust him in the unfolding, because it never looks like what I expected.

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Categories: Abiding, Absolute Dependency, Accountability, Anointing, Being a PK, Being Built Up, Belief System, Breaking Forth, Changes, Character, Christian Maturity, Core Values, Covering, Dependency, Divine Encounters, Encouragement, Family, Genuineness, God's Faithfulness, Hearing The Lord, Honesty, Humility, In Spirit and In Truth, Misplaced Dependency, New Beginnings, Prayer, Presumptions, Timing, Transcendence, Victory, Work of God | 2 Comments

King James Only or ?

Posted on July 15, 2012 by mcalmond

(Note: this post has been further updated)

I have a great friend and brother in the Lord who belongs to a group believers who are very, very, KJV only oriented. As a result, we have had various friendly conversations on this issue and yes, I have learned a lot from him as we have over a couple of years discussed these things, off and on. It has been genuinely good for me to work through this, coming to see, by the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus, and discern the true threat behind all of this innocent appearing issue.

Just recently, after not hearing from him on this subject for a good while,  he sent me a text message with a request that I listen to a “you tube” video called, “Whats the Big Deal about the KJV?”. You can find it here. When I listened to it I heard many things that didn’t register as true. Therefore, I was curious if anyone had presented a case to challenge this video and its claims. There is. You can find all five parts beginning  here. Both opposing presentations are insightful and very different, yet I genuinely believe that “KJV Onlyism” is genuinely standing on extremely weak ground. There is a very real deception related to King James Onlyism. Just to be clear, the King James Bible is not the bottom line, it is not The Standard by which all other Bibles are to be judged or evaluated.

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Categories: A Simple Faith, Bible Translations, Bibles, Changes, Confidence, Elitism, God's Faithfulness, Hearing The Lord, Isolation, Man's Faith, Misplaced Dependency, religious idolatry, Word, Word of God, Work of God | 2 Comments

A Prophetic Word

Posted on July 6, 2012 by mcalmond

Below is a prophetic word that the Lord gave me quite some time ago. I ran across again today and it seemed to me and the Holy Spirit that I was to post it here on this blog. So here it is.

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“I do not know why there is this surge of the Lord’s calling forth, the calling forth of a revealing of the things of the spirit, of sights, sounds, visions and revelations and workings of the ministering spirits of the Lord concerning his saints. However, there is and yet shall be even more. There is an awakening that is being called forth, Awaken, Awaken, yes, Awaken oh people of God, Awaken and see and behold all that the Lord would have you to see, to hear, and to know and understand for these days that are upon us and yet coming.

There is a cry going forth and a rising up. The cry to Awaken, Awaken oh mighty people of the living God, Awaken. Awaken and see! Awaken and hear! Awaken and know! But Awaken in spirit and truth!

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Categories: A Simple Reminder, Accountability, Anointing, Authenticity, Awakening, Body of Christ, Changes, Dependency, Empowerment, Exhortation, Genuineness, God's Faithfulness, Hearing The Lord, illumination, Prophetic, Prophetic Worship, Readiness, Witness | 8 Comments

The Great Commission, Really?

Posted on May 7, 2012 by mcalmond

Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV) Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

When it comes to this text, it seems to me, that too often there is an overly strong emphasis placed upon the word “Go” and not enough emphasis upon the truthful and general call for us all, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, to “make disciples”. In fact, the word “go” is too often treated as an imperative or command in this passage, when in truth it isn’t. Rather it is a present participle. This means that the word go, means going. So when we put it in the context of this passage it speaks more clearly of, as you are going, going forth, or going out, along the way, make disciples. The implied assumption is that you, being a child of the Lord Jesus Christ are already going forth in this world, in your everyday life, and therefore as His Kingdom witnesses, He has a mission for you. The phrase, “Make disciples”, is the imperative or the command here, and not “go”.

It is true that discipleship gets a lot of writing. There are all kinds of books, classes, articles and messages upon this word, disciple, or even attempting to describe and encourage the process of discipleship. In Jesus day it was also a well known concept and practice. Today, this word may more closely resemble our terms for “apprentice” or “mentor”. I personally like the word mentor. It has over the years become very important to me. The idea is that of personally getting involved in the process of training and equipping others to do the same kind of  job or fulfill the same kind of responsibility as the one who is doing the teaching, training, etc.

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Categories: A Genuine Heart Cry, Accountability, Anointing, Authenticity, Awakening, Calling, Commands, Core Values, Discipleship, Exhortation, Grace, Hearing The Lord, In Spirit and In Truth, Mentoring/Discipleship, Mercy, Sacrifice, Training, Transformation | 3 Comments

Thoughts About Age and Changes

Posted on April 14, 2012 by mcalmond

Change comes hard for most of us and as we get older, change seems to become even more difficult. It may simply be because of our age or it is simply because when you have spent a life time moving through one change after another, change just gets harder, more difficult and seems to require more of you than ever before. The motivation, energy and drive required for these changes seems to wane and not be as sufficient as it once was, to see you through these seemingly essential changes.

The truth is however, that true change is hard, risky and is always stressful whatever its ultimate fruit and our age at the time.

As a pastor or one who has spent the majority of his life in the ministry in one form or another, I find myself in such a season of life. The real question arises for me, regarding my need for change, is simply, is it worth the effort, difficulty, stress, etc? I have experienced a lot of changes in my life, from one move after another, from one church or ministry organization after another, from one home to another, one state to another, from one ministry crisis to another and even from one job after another. So, yes, the question arises, is this change worth all of the effort, stress and hardship it requires of us to accomplish this change and the promises that these changes hopefully contain?

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Categories: A Genuine Heart Cry, Absolute Dependency, Being Built Up, Breaking Forth, Changes, Christian Maturity, Dying to Self Will, Fear of God, Genuineness, Grace, Hearing The Lord, Holy Ghost Burdens, Hope, Jobs, Mentoring/Discipleship, Ministry Motivation, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Spiritual Fathers/Mothers, Timing, Word of God, Work | Leave a comment

A Fresh Vision of Spiritual Covering

Posted on March 11, 2012 by mcalmond

Psalms 27:5 (ESV) For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.

I want to share with you something that the Lord shared with me. It has to do with Spiritual Covering. While I admit that this phrasing has met with a lot of distortion and abuse over the years, I genuinely believe in the truth and principle of our need to cover those whom the Lord has given us. Covering has to do primarily with protection. It is in this light that I desire to share with you Spiritual Covering.

It was 1985 and my lovely wife was in Sacred Heart Hospital for surgery on a brain tumor. I had been with her for much of the time during her surgery and in recovery with very little sleep. So, I finally went to a nearby motel. As I was at the motel, I suddenly found myself under attack, spiritually. This attack was concerning things that I had long thought were taken care of. I began to cry out to the Lord concerning these things. My question was why I was suddenly vulnerable to these attacks. The presence of the Lord came and was powerful, precious and very comforting. It was then that the Lord began to grant me some clarity regarding that which I was crying out to him about.

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Categories: Abiding, Absolute Dependency, Anointing, Awakening, Calling, Covering, Empowerment, Family, Genuineness, God's Love, Hearing The Lord, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit Seeing, illumination, In Spirit and In Truth, Inner Healing, Intimacy, Paradigm Shift, Prayer, Testimony, Thanksgiving | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

I Am Hearing The Lord. Really?

Posted on January 11, 2012 by mcalmond

I Believe That I Am Hearing God, But… ?

I believe I am hearing God, but what if my heart, being deceitfully wicked and no man, including me, can know it, has misled me?

I believe I am hearing God, but what if my motives, paradigms and ignorance are all in the way?

I believe I am hearing God, but what if I am functioning out of blindness and deafness, unknown to me?

I believe that I am hearing God, but what if I have hidden unresolved issues with my mother or father or some kind of ancestral bondage’s that are getting in the way?

I believe I am hearing God, but the counsel of my friends in Christ cannot agree as to whether the question I had asked the Lord to begin with, was accurately framed according to the doctrines of our faith and therefore genuinely theologically sound?

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Categories: A Compilation of Sources, Absolute Dependency, Hearing The Lord, Holy Spirit Hearing, Holy Spirit Listening, Intellectualism, Lost and Alone, Noise and Distractions, Obedience, Open Ears, Prayer, Presumptions, Revelation, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Stirrings, Vulnerability, Word, Work of God | 1 Comment

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