prophetic

When it comes to spiritual gifts, there has been a lot of abuse and goofiness in the church. Because of the misuse of spiritual gifts, including the gift of Prophecy, many Christians treat prophecy like a disease. But according to scripture prophecy should:

1. Be "Earnestly" sought after.

2. Be used to Build Up the church.

3. Be used to Encourage the church.

4. Be used to Comfort the church.

1 Cor 14:1-4

14:1 Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 2 For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. 3 But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation. 4 One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but one who prophesies edifies the church.

NAS

Here at Living Springs Community Church we want to adhere to scripture and we desire to bring balance to all the spiritual gifts. Let us share some words that have been spoken to us individually and as a church body. Also, we'd like to share some prophetic situations, where the Lord was speaking through some pretty exciting events. These words are to glorify God and not us. Every word spoken or action taken by the Lord did result in God being glorified and fruit being produced. Without Him we are nothing.

November 2003

Dream - Standing in a dry Mojave River, asking the Lord, "Where is the water?" The Lord says, "Walk down stream, where it is dry. The river runs underground. Grab a shovel and dig. Bring up water for the people."

Phone call - Pastor Ron Hogue from Euless Tx. "I had a dream...you walked across the desert and began digging for water, because the river runs underground...dig a well for the people."

Face to Face with a man named Eli.

September 20th, 2004 I 'm (Rene) praying in an open field behind the K-Mart in Apple Valley. That was day #1 of a three day fast. I'm praying for our people and especially for a church building of our own. People have said that our church is like a new born baby. So I'm praying for a home for our "baby".

As I drive off in my van a Middle Eastern looking man named Eli pulls me over. He says, "Hey, are you the owner of this property?' I tell him no. He asks, "Are you just looking at the view?" I told him that I was praying. He then shares a dream that he had. It was the same dream that I had in 1996. I tell Eli that I'm praying for a building. Eli, who is from Lebanon tells me, "God is going to do a miracle for you!" I grab his cell number and he drives off. Weird!!

Then i ask the Lord, what is the prophetic word in this? Or is there one? As I read through I Samuel 1:12-17 I found that Hannah and I have this in common:

1. Both of us are praying for a child.

2. We both live in the desert

3. Our prayers are mistaken for something else.

4. Eli tells both of us that God is going to answer us.

5. Nine months later, Hannah has her child - Samuel.

Now I start counting the months and days! September 2004 plus 9 months gives us...June 2005 before we have a place for our church! Could it be?

April 28th 2005, we signed papers to move in to our new facility in May 2005. We should be ready to plug and play by June 1st? Some call it coincidence, I call it God!

Our first Sunday Service June 19th, 2005. One day short of the 9 month visit from Eli.

Wedding Bells at Living Springs Community Church

After we discovered that our church would settle in Hesperia, I told the Lord that I wanted our church to be a blessing to the people of Hesperia, in a practical way. I told the Lord that I wanted LSCC to be that cool drink of water on a hot day.

So there I am in H & E, in Hesperia, getting 5 keys made for our new church building. I met a young lady named Cynthia. As a rule I never introduce myself as "Pastor Rene" it just messes with people's heads. Cynthia begins sharing her life with me. She tells me that she is engaged to be married in June. She really wants a church wedding, but they cannot afford the $800 plus price tag for the church wedding. She says, "I really want to get married in a church and have God be the center."

I paid for my keys and wished her well. As I got in my vehicle and looked at the 5 keys, I heard the Lord say, "I gave you the keys to bless this city, now go and help that girl and her fiance. To make a long story short, after a time of counseling and meeting, I performed the wedding for David & Cynthia on June 24, 2005, free of charge. God gets the glory! By the way, this was a unique situation orchestrated by the Lord.

"Honey the Moving Van is here!"

In John 4 Jesus takes a seat at Jacob's well while the disciples grab some food. Jesus is tired and hungry. He meets and ministers to the Samaritan woman, and when the boys arrive with the food, Jesus tells them that he has already been feed! Ministering to this woman was the nourishment that He needed. It is the law of reciprocity. As you give out, it will return to you. Are you sick, go pray for someone who is sick. It is surrending your need to minister to others...Ok get to the story:

Rick and Cindy Dawson just sold their house and are ready to move out of state. The Shipley family is trying to sell their house, but without much success. During a service a word is given, "Have the Shipleys pray for the Dawson's so that the Shipleys can sell their house and move too." The Shipleys surrender their need and interceed for the Dawsons. The Shipley's house sells 3 days later and today they live in Wellington, KS. Amazing!

(Spring 2005)

Lost & Found?

On Thursday October 13th, 2005, Pastor Rene spoke at a chapel service at a local Christian School. After he spoke to the first group of students, he retreated to a small storage room to get props and notes together. The room was filled with tables, chairs, sound equipment, coffee makers, flags, etc. There was also a very large shelf with about 80 lost Bibles.

As Rene was getting his things together, he glanced at the lost Bibles and he felt the Lord tell him to grab this one particular Bible, and to take it home. He pushed a large puppet stage out of the way and he squeezed his way back to the shelf. He reached up and moved about 10 Bibles aside and grabbed this one black Bible. On the front was the name "Kenneth R. Gerber." Rene wondered if this Kenneth was related to Don Gerber, who attends Living Springs.

After further investigation he found that this Bible did belong to Don's Father. Kenneth R. Gerber, who went home to be with the Lord in 1998. Don and his family now has his father's Bible. God is good.

Starbucks Meeting

December 2005 - I'm (Rene) having coffee with a friend at Starbucks, on the corner of Bear Valley and Hesperia Road. An older couple gets in the very long line to purchase their coffee. As I sit and try to talk to my friend, my eyes are drawn to this couple. They are in their late 60's to early 70's, and both of them are just radiating something! I tell my friend, 'I don't know who they are, but I need to buy them coffee and bless them!" I move up to the gentleman and I offer to buy his coffee. His name is Skip and his wife is Delores (Dee). Skip agrees and he and Dee sit and join us for coffee and fellowship. As we began to talk, I could sense that this couple were very much in love, so much that they acted like newlyweds. Skip shared that he and Dee were Christians and that they both ministered at Bible Baptist Church, in Victorville. I noticed that Dee was very quiet and that maybe she was dealing with some illness, perhaps Alzheimer's Disease.

Later, as Dee left for the Ladies Room, Skip began to share his heart with us. Dee was struggling with Alzheimer's and he was fighting a very hard battle. When Dee returned, we prayed as a group and then we laid hands on Skip and Dee and asked for the Lord to bless them both. We also asked the Lord to be the Gracious Father that He is and to care for Dee.

June 2007 - My wife tells me that my son's baseball coach has lost his mother. Mr. Ely is the Varsity Baseball coach at my son's school. We have known the Elys and their children since the mid 90's. Our boys have been in the same class for over 10 years and they play on the same team. After my wife told me about the news, I grabbed the newspaper and found the obituary to find out where and when the funeral was. I got dressed and made by way to Bible Baptist Church. At a stoplight I looked at the picture of Mr. Ely's mother and I said, 'I know this lady! This is Dee from Starbucks!"

God has us on assignment, even when we have no idea what is going on!