Righteousness is the result of applying consistent Godly thinking. – John Paul Jackson

Some will argue with the theology of this, stating that righteousness is the result of Jesus’ finished work. And that’s true. But righteousness evidenced by our words, our actions, and our lifestyles stems from consistently choosing to think on “God things”.

The fear of failure will eventually result in doing nothing. — John Paul Jackson

This is similar to yesterday’s quote, but sometimes fresh wordings prompt deeper understandings within our hearts.

I’ve known ever since 1999 that I was going to write books. Fear of failure stalled my efforts as I attempted to learn “enough” to qualify as a decent writer.

In other words, I waited until the day would come when my writing would warrant being taken seriously. Except, there’s no one regulating Time. So I waited. For nothing.

Faithfulness is Repetition

Maybe I wouldn’t have been Stephanie Meyer blowing away the world with my first novel ever. Most people’s first attempts don’t strike gold. But some do.

And some people’s second book improves over the first and makes it big. And some people’s third book is the big release. And, of course, some people’s books are never well received or even heard of by the masses.

Had I chosen to risk failure and write my first book back in 2000, I could be three, four, maybe five books into my craft by now. There’s no telling whether the first few would have warranted consideration, but you can be certain my skills would have improved steadily over time through practice.

To him/her who is faithful with little, he/she will be given much. Faithfulness is repetition. It’s taking what isn’t a perfected skill and through repetition transforming an interest into a habit, and a habit into a lifestyle.

Failure is an Option

There are 101 reasons why my book wouldn’t get published or make much money or afford me the lifestyle of my dreams.

But all of them are potential, not actual… just like my book. Like Thomas Edison, I consider failure an option only for those who refuse to learn from their mistakes.

Each failure isn’t ULTIMATE failure unless you allow it to become your last and final attempt. Only then does failure leave a lasting mark.

The Time for Excuses Is Over. Do What You Are.

God made me a writer, among other things. It’s in my blood. It’s in my bones. I was created to write. So I write I must. Regardless of outcome. Regardless of fear. Regardless of failure.

Be encouraged.

Do what you are.

And do it often enough and long enough to become the best in your field.

Spiritual paralysis comes when we are afraid of making a mistake, thus the sin of the buried talent. — John Paul Jackson

Someone is READING. MY. MAIL.

This quote describes nearly a decade of my spiritual life, from the age of 20 to 28. I call it the Dead Zone, where I “worked on character” rather than gifting, because I was certain that I didn’t deserve legitimacy until I was respectable. I was all questions and fears and the answers I received confirmed this belief that I wasn’t good enough to be very useful just yet.

Father forgive me.

Ignorance is a painful thing. But it comes with a lighter price tag than rebellion. I was told when I was 19 years old that God had given me prophetic, teaching, and preaching gifts.

I certainly had no grid for growing in a prophetic gifting at that age, and I wasn’t aware of using it except for a handful of times where it came on accident. But it was the primary calling of God on my life, and I should have stepped forward and used the gift. I buried my talent because I was afraid of hurting someone or looking like a fool or ruining my future reputation. In fact, I would say that reputation is still a concern with which I battle.

There’s a difference between being Called vs being Sent. My mistake was assuming that I was merely waiting for the time of Sending, when I SHOULD have been actively preparing myself through practice, seeking, discipleship, etc. so that I was prepared to be Sent.

I saw this mistake a lot in my early Christian life. I saw a lot of people who had heard the word of the Lord on their life’s purpose, who after hearing had chosen to wait for God to do it all. This led to burying the talent and focusing on other less important details in life.

Beware the leaven of the Pharisees

There’s also a Pharisaical element at risk here. When you put people in a position to have to earn the right to use their spiritual gifts, you create a works-based traditional system. Obviously, a baby doesn’t have the maturity to mentor and guide a church family. But a baby may be the only mouthpiece willing to speak the unadulterated truth at a time when politics or tradition have blocked the way to growth. Don’t despise the utterances of the immature.

Lesson Learned: You did not earn the gift of God that resides inside you. IT WAS A GIFT! You are now a steward of that gift. It’s that simple. Nurture it. Protect it. But above all… USE IT.

What purpose and calling has God created you for?

To those who are faithful with the little they have, more will be given. To those who are not faithful, what little they have will be taken away and given to someone who IS faithful.

If God has spoken to you directly or through another a calling that resonates in your heart, grasp it with both hands and apply all your available energies to growing in that thing. He will reward your faithfulness, regardless of how long it’s taken you to get started.

NOTE: Almost all of these people have lived in DFW at some point in time, so their regional exposure and church affiliations no doubt affected who they chose.

1. Rick Joyner

Rick Joyner’s ministry is headquartered in South Carolina. I think he scored the highest for two reasons:

Half of the people I polled have at some point attended Wellspring Church, pastored by Jack Deere. Jack and Rick Joyner have a long-standing friendship and Rick has traveled several times to speak at Wellspring.

Rick Joyner has written several popular books including:

• The Final Quest
• The Call
• The Torch and the Sword
• There Were Two Trees in the Garden

The vast majority of Rick Joyner’s ongoing influence comes through his Word of the Week (a blog without the functionality of a blog), regular prophetic conferences, and video blog Prophetic Perspective on Current Events.

2. John Paul Jackson

John Paul Jackson lived for many years in DFW and recently returned after a decade or so in New Hampshire. Jackson’s Streams Ministries has taught The Art of Hearing God and Interpreting Dreams to thousands of believers around the world. In addition to many audio teaching series available, he’s written several books, including:

• Unmasking the Jezebel Spirit
• Needless Casualties of War
• Breaking Free of Rejection

You haven’t really gotten the John Paul Jackson experience, however, until you’ve listened to the Fireside Chats audio files. Available for purchase on the Streams website. John Paul also writes frequently in his blog, CoffeeTalk, where you’ll find lengthy and engaging discussions of important topics.

You may also want to catch up on episodes of It’s Supernatural where Sid Roth has interviewed John Paul, as well as several visits on Daystar and TBN where John Paul has shared about visions, dreams, and the prophetic.

3. Chuck Pierce

Chuck is local to DFW. He’s pastored a church in Denton (North of DFW) for years. He’s also the head of Glory of Zion Ministries. In 2010, C. Peter Wagner passed Global Harvest Ministries over to Pierce, who then restructured the ministry under the name Global Spheres Inc. Chuck is connected with several national church leaders including Cindy Jacobs, Dutch Sheets, Barbara Wentroble, Paul Keith Davis, Sergio Scataglini, nd C. Peter Wagner.  Chuck Pierce has also written many books, including:

• Time to Defeat the Devil
• Protecting Your Home from Spiritual Darkness
• The Worship Warrior.

Chuck also shares frequently on ElijahList.com, a website dedicated to sharing public prophecies with the Body of Christ.

My Personal Influences

Rick Joyner and John Paul Jackson both played crucial roles early on in my development. I read The Final Quest by Joyner about the same time I read Jack Deere‘s very easy to grasp book Surprised by the Voice of God. Quality books and audio teachings are important when direct discipleship opportunities are not available.

A year or two after reading a couple of Joyner’s books, I signed up for a course at Shady Grove Church called The Art of Hearing God, by John Paul Jackson. It was during that class that I learned to stress character over gifting. A life lesson worth learning over and over.

There were more immediate influences in my life as well. Bill Leckie led the School of Discipleship I attended the first year I was a believer, and I saw him deliver and received some prophetic words from him during that time. I also benefited from firsthand observation of Robert Morris (who taught me to stop and ask Holy Spirit what He was saying specifically to me through a teaching), Anita Carson (Yes, Amen!), Steve LeBlanc, and Anthony White during that time.

Who Has Influenced You Most?

There were many others who received single votes. Feel free to share the names of other leaders who’ve influenced you in the prophetic.

This video is important to me because of the Spirit behind it. If you will still yourself and watch this attentively, notice if you don’t feel the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon you. I feel markedly more peaceful and really just enjoying the words of life spoken out of each man’s mouth.

Listen to Benny Hinn. Don’t you feel peace coming from him? I do. Some things he’s done in the past may seem sensational, but he also has moments like these when he’s calm and peaceful and speaking life and peace just seems to come from him. This only comes from abiding in the presence of the Lord. And I will give anyone who takes the time to bask in God’s presence the chance to speak into my life.

Hinn makes it a point to wait on the Lord for hours at a time. That’s serious commitment. That’s a person pursuing God with their heart. Take note.

Watch it now!

Go ahead and skip the first 3:30 of this video. It’s talk about coming crusades and what not… a little bit of fluff. Here’s a sample of what is said in the video:

Benny Hinn: Is it smart to randomly open the Bible, point your finger in it, and get a word from the Lord?

John Paul: No, but we can be reading along in the Bible, about David, something David has done, or about Samuel… we can read through here and go, you know what? Exactly what God has done here he’s doing in my life. Therefore I need to respond in like way. This is a living Word of God. We need, in our reading process, to believe that when something is quickened to us in this wonderful word, it really is the Holy Spirit bringing an impetus to us to awaken our spirit. To stir our spirit.To recognize this IS the Lord.

Then there are circumstances in our life that God speaks to us through. Things that are going on around us. For example, in my teenage years, I fell away form the Lord for a short while, and came back to the Lord because I heard two men talking about God in an elevator. I heard these two men talking and it was a holy haunting of God… He spoke to me as I heard these two men talking.

The inner knowings, or spiritual knowings, where your spirit and the Holy Spirit communicate with each other. You are walking down the street and you’ll suddenly feel compelled to do something…

Watch the video below to get the whole interview.

A Side Note about Benny Hinn:

Many of you who visit this page may have questions about Benny Hinn. He’s a fairly controversial figure in charismatic Christianity. I was uncomfortable with him for many years. I never doubted that “some” number of people have been healed through his ministry. But what bothered me was his style. His approach. Well, I feel like the Lord has corrected me over time to not speak disrespectfully against Benny Hinn. I still wouldn’t repeat everything he does, but I respect his dedication to renewing his mind, waiting in the presence of the Lord, and in praying for the sick and injured.

My point is, be careful you don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. Sometimes we don’t like the style or package of a ministry that is presented to us. But we do ourselves a discredit to toss out everything for that reason. Better that we become adept at finding the nuggets of gold in each person despite their imperfections rather than requiring that anyone who speaks into our lives be first flawless and without blame.

Food for thought.