A Reason for Optimism

In 2007, I drove to Fort Wayne, Indiana to lead a prayer initiative in the city. Over a period of 10 years, I made numerous trips to join other intercessors for prayer over strategic historical locations in the city.

Daisy Bailey, one of the prayer leaders of the city, often identified these “prayer locations.” On this particular trip, Daisy said we needed to go to the spot where the great Fort Wayne Gospel Temple had once stood. When we arrived, all I saw was a video rental store, and I thought, “Hmph! What has Daisy gotten us into, now?”

However, as we began praying the Holy Spirit came on me in a powerful way. “C’mon Daisy! We have to pray around this store. You go around the left side and I’ll meet you at the back,” I said.

When we met at the back I began to see a vision for the city and I spoke it out as fast as it came, while Daisy quickly scribbled the account down in her notebook. That prophesy ended up getting passed around to the spiritual leaders of the city.

Well, when God directs you on a mission, you never know what is going to happen!

Why was there such a move of God on that property? Some prophets say that where great moves of God have taken place the power of that move remains in the ground. When an anointed messenger walks on that ground, the anointing is stirred up, as if it comes right out of the ground. I guess that’s what happened that day.

So why did the power and presence of God reside on that property?

The Fort Wayne Gospel Temple stood on that property for 60 years. Here’s how it happened:

A preacher named Reverend R. G. Rediger came to Fort Wayne in 1926 with a God-breathed vision to build a church. You might say he struggled for four years to get the vision off the ground, but when he became discouraged, the Lord told him Isaiah 27:3 was His word over His plans for Fort Wayne, “I the Lord do keep it: I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it I will keep it night and day.”

When Reverend Rediger went on the radio with an hour-long Gospel program, things seemed to shift for him in a big way. He had started his work in a small church that soon could not hold the crowds that came, so in 1930, the foundations for a 3000-seat building were laid. The dedication, on November 23, 1930, drew 10,000 people. This was the beginning of the Fort Wayne Gospel Temple that remained in operation until 1990.

What is so amazing about this story? Reverend Rediger built his church as the result of a vision from God . . . in the heart of the Great Depression.

Can you imagine what people must have said?

“Rediger, what is the matter with you? Have you lost your mind? Don’t you know we are in the middle of a depression?”

Remind you of anyone else? How about Noah, who built a huge ark because he said a great flood was coming. Up to that point in history, it hadn’t even rained, yet.

Can you imagine what people must have said to him?

So Reverend Rediger built a 3000-seat church in the middle of the Great Depression . . . and at that time, it was the second largest building of its kind in the world.

The optimism in our country is very low. Surveys show a declining trend in American’s confidence in the future.

But God’s kids don’t have to take their optimism reading from what is going on in the country. We can take our optimism reading from our Great God. And you know what? God is not governed by the economy or the pessimism of the masses. He doesn’t care, nor is He limited by any of those things.

My former pastor had a great saying he repeated often, “My God sits in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases.”

Isn’t that awesome? God does whatever He wants to do.

That’s why it is so important to dream. Just because the masses are in the doldrums, it doesn’t mean you have to shut off your “dream engine.” Instead, stoke up the fires and shovel in the coal. Get it burning red-hot, because you never know what God will do.

What does He want to do now, in these difficult times, through you?

You should ask Him!

They Are Not Easily Persuaded

By Lorraine

Galatians 5: 7-8

“You were doing so well until someone talked you out of obeying the truth. This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.”

Befriending cattle is not an easy thing. Cattle are extremely cautious and are easily spooked.

If you want one of these big curious and extremely skittish animals to come smell your hand, my dad told me from the time I was little, “You must sit still. Sit very still with your hand extended and be patient.”

They will use all their senses to figure you out. With their keen ability, they hear about 16 to 40,000 Hz, smell odors up to 6 miles away and with their 330-degree vision, there is no chance that you could ever sneak up on them.

I have also observed that cattle are very discerning. They seem to be very quick to discern whether you have a gentle or aggravated countenance about you.

My dad once saw his cattle stampede into the woods upon the arrival of a stranger that stepped onto the property.

Are you trust worthy? I guarantee you that they are not easily persuaded.

There is much to be learned from these animals about not giving in to persuasion. It is a built in defense to protect them. If a predator could easily approach them because they were not cautions, it would cost them their lives.

Are you easily persuaded? Are you discerning?

More than ever we are bombarded everyday by someone or something trying to persuade us through our T. V. programs, ads, and any other form of media there is.

They are trying to persuade us how we should think, speak, act, behave and what our faith should look like.

Your faith should line up with the Word of God. The way you think, speak, act, and behave should line up with the Word of God.

Don’t be persuaded otherwise, because if you are, it may cost you more than you realize.

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.”

1 Corinthians 16:13

In His Service,

George and Lorraine Halama

Photos designed and taken by Lorraine

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