Goodbye EKM

As you well know, I have not posted regularly here for quite some time. Other things, even ministry things, have pulled me in different directions.

With the move to the Chattanooga area, my wife and I were led by God, actually thrown by God, into so much challenge and growth.

God challenged us on some beliefs we held dear, admittedly not from Scripture or His Spirit but from tradition and denomination.

It’s funny because I always thought of myself as NOT being tied to tradition but God showed me in many ways I was. To be perfectly honest I am still finding the traditions of men and denomination lurking in the back of my mind. God is helping me purge it.

I shared with some friends how that the difference between West Tennessee and East Tennessee (spiritually) is daylight and dark. True pockets of revival are taking place in East Tennessee. True moves of God in power and demonstration are taking place in East Tennessee. True presence. True change. True deliverance.

I am happy to report this is taking place in other places, as well. For example, we know of a POWERFUL move of God taking place in Florida right now.

God has led us back to West Tennessee and we are forced to ask ourselves, ‘Why not here?’

It certainly could happen here. Every real move of God, every true revival, every genuine awakening began with PRAYER.

Maybe… just maybe… God is calling us to commit to do just that. Regularly. Consistently. With conviction. With longing. With desire. Praying with the spirit, and praying with the understanding also (1Co 14:15).

This will be my last post on EKM.

God has shifted my being ‘The Preacher‘ to my wife and I being a ministry team.

I appreciate you following EKM and my sporadic posts over the years but the time has come to focus. Focus on prayer. Focus on worship. Focus on encouraging others.

If you’d like to follow Missy and me, you can do it a few different ways.

You can follow us at the Acts Continued Blog.

On Instagram actscontinued

On Twitter @Acts_Continued

Lord bless you and yours and let me say one last time, I can’t wait to see what God has for you… just around the corner.

In Christ, Bro. Kyle.

No Fear

In the midst of all that is happening in our world today, I have a joy that is unquenchable. I definitely feel it in prayer this morning. I just finished reading this passage below and the Holy Spirit gave me such reassurance.

Psalm 46:1-7,
[1] God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. [2] Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; [3] Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. [4] There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. [5] God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. [6] The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. [7] The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Even if it looks like the world is falling, apart around you, take heart! For he has overcome the world.

I can’t wait to see what God has for us… just around the corner!

Good Christmas News

Good Christmas News

Words, Words, and More Words

“The sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.” Isn’t it interesting that it is called “the Word”?

It’s not called “the thought,” or “the writing”, or anything else; it is The Word (something that needs to be spoken and heard).

Who do you think (and say) you are? You have two sources to draw your conclusion from – past experience or God’s Word. Most people create their identity beliefs from their past experience. They say they are who their experience (their past) says they are.

Who does God say we are? His children. Kings and Priests. Overcomers by the Blood of the Lamb and by the WORD of our testimonies.

David is our role model for speaking to self. He would have seemed “crazy” to people in today’s society because of this. In Psalm 42 he asks his soul, “Why are you disquieted within me?” It is amazing that he carried on such a dialogue with himself. He not only asks the question, but he then tells his soul what to do, “Hope in God.” Finally, he notifies his soul of what he will do, “I shall yet praise Him!”

Faith comes by hearing, not just thinking something (Romans 10:17). Not just hearing a sermon but hearing ourselves speak The Word.

Jesus said that the “violent” are taking the kingdom by force (Matthew 11:12). Our most violent acts need to be directed at our soul’s tendency to conclude truth and reality from feelings, experience and circumstances (instead of God’s promises). Our prayer life needs to include times of “having it out” with ourselves. We need to rehearse past victories out loud, boldly proclaim the promises of God and remind ourselves verbally of previous things He has said. If we do, we will be speaking life, and we will bring back that which appears to have been stolen from us.

Remember the 12 spies?

A truth of life is that those who say they can, and those who say they can’t, are both right.

Like the spies, Believers are given glimpses into abundant life that Jesus won on the cross for us (aspects of God’s promises that seem too good to be true).

Two voices begin to speak to us; you can or you can’t. The promise is mine or it won’t work for me. Whichever voice we have been feeding the most will be the loudest and most believable.

The unbelieving spies, instead of sharing just the facts about the giants in the land, spoke forth conclusions about their own inabilities based on lies that elevated the problem above the promises of God.

It was a defining moment for them that took their lives away from greatness, into mediocrity and into a spiritual wilderness.

It is vital we begin to ravenously feed our faith and starve our doubts.

One of the main ways we can do this is by continually “speaking life” over our circumstances and ourselves. It will prepare us for those incredible moments that are coming in the days ahead.

(Eph 5:18)
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Finally, one more piece of advice from David…

(Psa 34:12)
What man [is he that] desireth life, [and] loveth [many] days, that he may see good?

In other words, if you want to have a long and happy life, what is the very first thing he tells us we need to do? …next verse…

(Psa 34:13)
Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

It all begins and ends with our words.

What will you speak and see what God has for you… just around the corner?

The Word

God continues to impress upon me the vital importance of the spoken word.

Why is Jesus called The Word?
For example…

John 1:1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

1 John 5:7, For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

Why isn’t The Father called The Word?
Why isn’t His Holy Spirit called The Word?

Because Jesus is the physical representation of God, God in the flesh,…

(I and My Father are one. John 10:30

He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father? John 14:9)

…then The Word must be the physical representation of God in us.

In other words, the creative power of God resides in those who believe.

God spoke and the worlds were framed. God spoke and everything that was created was created, and they were created from nothing; nothing more than His spoken words.

Genesis 1:1-3, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be…
And God said..
And God said…
And God said…
And God said…
And God said…
And God said…
And God said…
And God said.

As I said at the beginning, God continues to impress upon me the vital importance of the spoken word.

Why?

Because that we SPEAK God’s Words into and over our lives, our families lives, our friends lives, our communities, our leaders, our pastors, our churches, and on and on is VITAL to our well-being, both physical and spiritual.

Ye have not because ye ASK not.
What do you want?
Who do you want to be?
What do you want to do?
What do you want to give?
How do you want to help?
What do you want to change?

Do the answers to these questions line up with the fruits of The Spirit or are they selfish?

Galatians 5:22-23, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

If the answers to those questions lineup with the fruits of the spirit, Then continue to pray, continue to speak these things out and you will believe and receive.

John 15:7, If ye abide in me, and I abide in you…

NOT what it says. It says…

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

If the answers to those questions do not line up with the fruits of the spirit but are selfish in nature, then your own spirit within you will know this and there will be enough doubt in your mind because you know it’s wrong that it will never come to pass.

Repeat after me out loud,…

“I AM a child of God.”

God has been speaking to me about “I AM” and how He has meant it for our good.
But that’s for another post.

Change your words, change your life.

What if, instead of negative, we spoke the words of life?

Proverbs 18:21, Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

What if our thoughts were of things true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good reports, of virtue, of praise? (Phil 4:8).

And if our thoughts were of these, then our speech would naturally follow…
…for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh (Matt 12:34).

Change your thoughts, change your words, CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

Speak words of life and see what God has for you… just around the corner.

The Anointing is for You

Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

How many of us have this on a T-shirt or on a picture or plaque of some kind hanging in our homes?

This is one of those verses that has become so familiar to us we miss the true and deeper meaning.

If you read my last post, you know the Lord is dealing with me yet again regarding the power of our spoken words. Specifically the words we speak into our own lives.

Read this familiar verse again. Read it slowly. Read it Word for Word. Read it as though you had never read it before.

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The Spirit has been pointing out some things to me regarding this verse. I pray it gets you as excited as it has gotten me.

First of all, the Spirit impressed upon me to place emphasis upon the word ‘can‘.

I CAN… Say it to yourself with emotion, say it with intensity, I CAN!

Now place emphasis on The word ‘all‘.

I CAN do ALL things…

Before we go on, think about what you are saying here. We are capable of anything we put our mind and heart to. In fact, do The Scriptures not say all things are possible to him who believes? (Mark 9:23)

Now here is where it gets interesting. Notice what he says next…

…through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Anyone I’ve ever pastored or has ever heard me preach knows that I constantly emphasize the importance of every word in Scripture.
Every word and, I dare say, even every punctuation mark is important in the preserved words of God.

I say this as we move into these next words. Notice The writer does not say, ‘Jesus‘, he says, ‘Christ‘.

Had he said His name, Jesus, he would have gone on to say, ‘who‘ strengtheneth me, not ‘which‘ strengtheneth me.

‘Christ‘ is not Jesus’ last name but one of His titles that, like all His titles, carries with it an attribute. He is The Christ, and who can tell me what ‘Christ‘ means? That’s right, ‘anointed‘. He is God’s anointed.

Let me stop here and say that God is good (somebody just said, ‘all the time’).

He shares everything with us.
He shares His perfect love with us.
Because of His great love for us, He shares the victory that He won with us.
He even shares his power with us.
(Matthew 28:18, And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Acts 1:8, But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you…
Luke 10:19, Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy…)

My point being, going back to our focal Scripture, He shares His anointing with us.

I can do all things through Christ (Jesus anointing He shares with us) which strengtheneth me.

Does his anointing rest on you?

All you have to do is believe. All things are possible to him who believes.

I CAN do ALL things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

I AM a child of God!

Believe it, receive it, and see what God has for you… just around the corner.

Prepare for War

Joel 3:9-11, Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: 10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I [am] strong. 11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
Joel 3:13-14, Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness [is] great. 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD [is] near in the valley of decision.

I have been posting lately on the EKM Instagram account, for the most part. however, this was a little too long for Instagram.

Consider the passage above.

Prepare for war. There is always war being waged in the heavenlies. Sometimes the war is more intense than at other times. Now is one of those times.

Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears. Turn your normal prayers into words of war and power. Use God’s Words, the Scriptures, as your offensive weapon against the enemy (His words will not return to Him void…).

Let the weak SAY I am strong. I have taught for years on the power of our spoken words. God is trying to teach us early on in the Scriptures, as he speaks with Moses, to tell the enemy, I AM.

I AM a child of God! I AM strong! I AM powerful by the spirit of God within me! I HAVE a Sword in the name of Jesus Christ! I CAN do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me! I AM a Priest and King in Jesus Christ!

In this very passage the writer tells us to speak the words, “I am strong”. Let the weak say I am strong. Speak strength into your body, speak strength into your spirit, speak strength into your life!

Continuing with the passage above, he says, cause thy mighty ones to come down.
Call on the angels of heaven to come down and assist in your prayers of war against the enemy.

Why am I calling you to such prayer? Because the Spirit has spoken to me regarding a harvest.

The harvest is ripe, the press is full!

Many in the world around you, including some of your own friends and family, are very near making a decision. In fact, many of them are in the valley of decision right now. Your prayers for them in this season are vital. The enemy knows this, as well, and that is why there is such a battle taking place. But greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. This is not a cute quote for a decorative sign in your home, it is truth.

Now, get to your prayer closet and let’s go to war. Let’s see what God has for us… just around the corner.

We Need New Wine Skins

Reposted from EKM Instagram…

Release

I thought I’d share todays Instagram post here on the blog. Exciting!

As my wife and I worshiped together last night, we received a couple of exciting words.

As she was praying, she said something about God having blessings held in his hand. As soon as she had said that, I felt the Lord say, “Release”. And I could see in the spirit, God opening His hand and releasing the blessings that He was holding.

I believe that this was not just for us but for some others who are hopefully reading this who have been waiting patiently on The Lord for some promised blessings.

Another word was regarding the healing of Missy’s leg, as well as another issue in our life right now concerning work. Missy’s healing is going great! We are very thankful. However, it seems like it was a long time coming.

God showed me during our prayer of thanksgiving for her healing that, just like with Daniel, he heard our prayers the very first time we prayed but the answer has been delayed or hindered by the enemy. His angels, His power, His healing, and His answers are now breaking through!!!

Again, not just for us, but we believe for some others reading this, as well.

What have you been waiting on?

What does God have for us… just around the corner?

Watch What You Watch

Reposting this from CBN…

‘They Were Releasing Spells Over the Viewers’: Ex-Witch Warns Witchcraft Everywhere from Hollywood to Church

When Jenny Weaver watched a movie called The Craft about a group of teen witches, she didn’t think much about it. Soon, she started following some of the occultic practices laid out in the film.

“What started off as something innocent where I’m just connecting with energy and the universe and vibes and all these innocent things that we see, took me down a path of just dark desperation,” Weaver told CBN News.”I felt at one point I was living in like a haunted house,” Weaver continued. “I was hearing scratches on the wall right next to me. I would feel a brush by me and be terrified that somebody was here in the room with me. I always felt like I was being watched. It took me far into drugs. I ended up being homeless and on drugs, in and out of jails. For nine years of my life, I was in and out of a dark place.”

One night while in jail, Jenny whispered a prayer and surrendered her life to Jesus Christ. Today she serves as a worship leader at We Are Nations Church in Orlando, FL.  

Weaver warns believers to be on guard as witchcraft and the occult are on the rise.

“I think media has done a good job of pushing something to the point where it’s now normalized,” she said. “We have shows as early as day care age promoting witchcraft and sorcery — ‘It’s ok boys and girls say these spell words with us.'” And it’s so ABC, preschool witchcraft, that it gets into the hearts and the minds of people, including the people in church,” said Weaver. 

She added, “And people who are not really connected with the Lord and don’t understand, they’re easily deceived. And the Bible talks about even the very elect will be deceived. And so, people are going to a whole other source. That’s what they’re wanting. They want a healing crystal because they don’t understand that Jesus is the healer and there’s no other source that you can go to except through Jesus.”
Weaver said she is shocked at how widespread and accepting these dark practices have become, even within the church.

“I’m seeing it become very trendy on Tik Tok and things like that,” she explained. “There’s a whole generation of people who are being rocked to sleep by the enemy and it’s just really time for the church, what you’re doing, doing this interview, to sound the alarm and say no, we need to wake up and we need to say this is not right. This is not for my home, not for my kids.”

Weaver points out that the movie that introduced her to the dark side was remade in 2020. 

“They recreated the movie and they invited real witches on the set, and they had the witches, before they would do a scene to cast spells and to invite the actresses to come into this circle with them while they were releasing spell words over the viewers and over the scene,” said Weaver. “People are playing it in their home and it’s entertainment. The first part of entertainment is ‘enter’. So be careful what’s entering your home.”

She also highlighted other popular items connected to the occult.

“We’re seeing healing crystals,” said Weaver. “You’re seeing people wearing these third eye necklaces. Seeing people that are channeling their energy in chakras. And people communicating with ancestors and getting their ancestors’ spirits to give them power. I’m not talking about the world. I’m talking about, I’m having conversations with Christians who are doing these things.” 

She went on to say, “I went to this store, it’s a very popular store, and I even hate to say their name, but it was Marshalls. And I was just blown away that Marshalls had actual witchcraft books. Like you can come in here and you can do this spell. And you can get this sage and you can get these; it was like a whole kit. And they’re selling it like it’s a holiday kit that you would buy someone.”

“And so, it’s really starting to be very mainstream, and I just feel like the church needs to be aware. The Bible says to stay away from those things of darkness but rather expose them, not to partake in them,” said Weaver.

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So from EKM, please pay attention to what you are watching and listening to. I have preached this for years.

And please, PLEASE, pay attention to what your children are watching, listening to, reading, and even wearing.

Lord bless you all and Merry Christmas!