Thanks

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving day here in the United States. It s a day when we look back over the year and give thanks for all that we have. In our schools the kids are taught that the Pilgrims held a big banquet to thank the Native Indians for providing them food during a harsh winter. In reality the banquet was to thank God for providing the food through the Indians.

No matter what you believe about that first thanksgiving tomorrow's holiday is about being thankful. The questions for us are: "Are we really thankful? Do we really know where our blessings come from? Do we really take the time out from football, meals and family gatherings to actually bow or raise our heads to thank the true God for all that we have?"  

I am a follower of Jesus Christ and so for me He is the God and the only God. All other gods that are worshiped are nothing compared to Jesus. So for me I am thankful that this Jesus I worship thought I was worth giving his life for. That I was valuable enough that he would step off of the Throne of Heaven and take on a human body and then to give his earthly body as a sacrifice for all the bad things I have done or will do.

It is interesting that our of all of the gods mankind has his Jesus is the only one who gave in order to save his creation. All others expect mankind to give to receive whatever it is they have to give which in reality is nothing.

Right now what are you thankful for? Me, I am thankful for the ability to choose. I am thankful for my family, my blessings, my wealth, my salvation. I am thankful for my farm and for my mistry. I am thankful that the Creator of all things thought I was worthy of his love. All that I have is a direct result of my God. 

I am thankful for the gift of eye that I have for photography which I use to bless others.

Holy Spirit Movie

I recently downloaded the Holy Ghost movie and as I watched it I could feel the Holy Spirit telling me, "I want this to happen in the Ozarks."

Watch the trailer 

God is always present and we only have to ask him to show what He is doing. The Lord and King of all creation, Jesus, lives in us through the Holy Spirit. 

It is a risk to go outside the walls of our church and do Kingdom stuff but anything of value is of risk.  If you have a dream you have to risk something to achieve it and there is no better dream than touching someone for God's Kingdom. 

One of the neatest parts of the movie was when a few the members of Korn went out into the lobby before they performed and prayed for people who were standing in line to get into the concert. If God can use tattooed heavy metal rock and rollers to do His work I am sure He will use n ordinary person like me to do something.

I encourage you to either purchase the move or find someone like me who has the movie and watch it. I believe God will speak to you and challenge you through it.

Father we ask for your Holy Spirit to work through us as we witness about what Jesus has done in our lives. May everything we do in Jesus name bring You gory. In Jesus name amen

You Can Have the Confidence of David

If you are a Christian you have heard the story of David and Goliath. You may have even seen the movie "Facing Giants"


or heard the theme song from that movie, "

All of us will face a giant or giants at some point in our life. Your giant might be fear, it might be a health problem, it might be marriage problems, it could be financial problems, whatever it is it is no doubt discouraging. 

When the Israel army was facing the giant Goliath they were afraid and they were completely discouraged up to and including the king. Along comes a young man named David who was full of confidence and he says to the king: “Master,” said David, “don’t give up hope. I’m ready to go and fight this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17: ³²

The confidence David had was not his own. In 1 Samuel 17 David says "God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine.”

So here is what I want to encourage you to do. "Take your giant into your bedroom, get on your knees ad ask God to give you the courage and confidence to move forward. Ask Him to bring into your life an encourager. Then thank Him for His answer and get up and live as if He has answered."

Then you will face your giants as David did: David answered, “You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel’s troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I’m about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there’s an extraordinary God in Israel. And everyone gathered here will learn that God doesn’t save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God—he’s handing you to us on a platter!” 1 Samuel : 45-47

And like David you will find that your giant's control over you can be defeated.

Here is a good sermon by Mark Warner, lead pastor of Vineyard Church in Overland Park,

Self Control and Ministry

I was listening to a sermon by Mark Warner, lead pastor of the Vineyard Church in Overland Park Kansas, and in his sermon he said two things that hit me.

1. Self control does not come from self but from the Holy Spirit working in you

In my experiences leading men I have found that those men who rely on their self control end up messed up again but those who rely on the Holy Spirit giving them self control mess up less and less.

2. You greatest ministry will come out of your greatest pain.

As Kat and I planned our farm I wanted to combine what I felt God was calling me to do with our farm. Thus the name Restoration Farm. One of my weaknesses is fighting with control by leaders. I am not sure where this wound came from but I often find myself confrontational when leaders rub me the wrong way. Over the past four years I have slowly let God's Spirit change that in me but every now and then I feel it pushing on me again.

Out of that pain is growing Restoration Farm and a healing ministry for leaders.

I want to encourage you to check out the most recent series that Mark Warner as been doing called "50 Days of Transformation". Below is the one I took the two quotes from.

Father give us self control that comes from the Holy Spirit and take our wounds and may we minister from our wounds because that is where we understand the most. In Jesus name amen

Restoration Farm

In 2012 my wife, Kat, began living a dream we were given b God. We sold our home in Louisburg, KS and cashed in every investment we had and purchased 12 acres in Morgan County Missouri and began to build a chemical free farm operation.

We have worked hard and made a lot of changes to the farm. We have built 3 hoop houses, a barn, and a chicken coop.

The first two photos were taken from the pond looking east to towards our house. The top one was taken in 2012 and the bottom one was taken just last month.

Over the past two years I have taken a good deal of photos of the farm and I want to share some with you here.

 

 I have many more that I could share but I think you get the picture of how much God has blessed us.

The last two photos are of our Restoration Farm Ministry Cabin. We hope that this cabin will be used by many pastors who need restoration or refreshing. We believe God intends to use this cabin in healing pastors who are hurting or who have made a major mistake. We believe that God wants Restoration nor Rejection.

May our Father in heaven bless you and may He change your life through your faith in Jesus and the movement of the Holy Spirit in and through you. In Jesus name amen

REAL Men RoCK Group

Tonight at 5pm I start up a new group in Versailles, MO called REAL Men RoCK and of course it is based on the welcome of this blog.

Proverbs 27:17 (The Message) 17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another

REAL Men RoCK

R ighteous   E ncouraging   A ccountable   L oving 

Men 

R ely on    C hrist's   K indness

Men in our country are in a battle to know what real manhood is and so this will be a man focus of this group. So if you live within 30 miles of Versailles and you want to become a warrior contact me at lnclark1950@gmail.com

Restoration Farm

It has been over a year since I posted on this blog. My posts now appear at Restoration Farm  so come check out what is new with me.

To give you an idea I and my wife, Kat, own and operate a chemical free farm and we have a ministry to pastors and missionaries. Check out our website at www.the-restoration-farm.com.

The last three years has been a busy time for me. Building a chicken coop, a cabin, 4 hoop houses and all of the other stuff that goes with raising chickens and goats.

Hope to have you visit Restoration Farm soon.