KennethBow's Blog

Psalm 16 and Psalm 56 have a subscription above the text as a Michtam psalm.

The Michtam psalm means engraving. It is as though it is engraved on David’s mind and heart. The secondary meaning is a hidden secret.

David is showing us his hidden secret of how to deal with being attacked and persecuted by those around him.

His secret? Make God your sole and single purpose and this will bring happiness, salvation, and fullness of joy.

This psalm is followed by a prayer psalm, psalm 17. There are only five of these prayer psalms (17.1, 86.1, 90.1, 92.1, and 142.1).

David’s secret to survival? Make God your sole and single purpose in life. Engrave it on your mind. And then, go pray.

It worked for David and it will work for us.

Thanks for reading today…..

Leave a Response »

ECC 2018

Eurasia.

The word conjures vast distances and millions of souls.

In the city of St Petersburg, Russia on April 19-22 the first EuroAsia Missions Conference was held at the Park Inn by Radisson, Pribaltiyskaya.

It was an advance thrust to launch a new wave of revival in Eurasia. Hosted by Missionary Traylor (Russia) and Missionary Shell (Germany), it was a resounding success. The meeting had pastors, evangelists, gospel workers, and of course missionaries, from Asia, Europe and America.

It was held at the beautiful Park Hotel and the amenities were excellent. Missionary Traylor and Missionary Shell proved to be outstanding tour guides as well. Featured speakers were Rev Tim Joiner, Rev Sylvester Narlock and Rev Kenneth Bow.

Each session was anointed and especially blessed by the presence of prayer, worship and Word.

The plans are being formed to host the second annual conference on May 1-3, 2019. It will again be held at St Petersburg, Russia.

Blessings await those who would step out and attend this event in 2019.

One Response »

The lion cub.

The man was a Hunter. His father had been a hunter. His grandfather had been a hunter. In fact as far as his lineage could be traced they were all hunters. They lived deep in the jungle. Hunting kept his family alive.

While hunting one day he found it in the forest. He had just killed a large lion and he heard movement behind him. He spun quickly raised his spear ready to defend himself or to kill another animal. Out of the woods came a very small baby lion cub. It was so cute and cuddly he took it home to show his children.

When he went to take it out and kill it the children cried. They begged to let them keep it for just a few days. Against his better judgment he let the little lion cub live. For the next few weeks and months the lion cub played with the kids, it slept with the kids. Dad kept saying but it’s a lion, it’s a lion and lions grow up and become big lions and big lions do what lions do, they kill. The kids and mom kept saying it won’t hurt anything it loves us watch it play with Johnny.

Then one day the little cuddly, soft, fun, lion grew up and it did what all lions do. The lion killed Johnny and everybody cried and said I never thought this would happen. The man said I’ve been telling you it was a lion all these years.

That’s how sin is, it seem so innocent. What can it hurt and then it grows up and it takes your child and you wonder where did I go wrong?

Soccer games, the little unsaved girlfriend next door, kiddie movies all seem so harmless. Cute little things. So cuddly.

You see cute playful lion cubs grow up and become lions. And lions do what all all lions do, they kill people.

But I thought it was so cute, so entertaining, so harmless, I thought it loved my kids.

Don’t feel bad at the lion. It was a lion when It was born, it will always be a lion, and he will always kill because that’s what lions do. Don’t hate the lion when he licks the blood of your child off his claws. You brought a lion in your house and let it live.

They knew it was a lion when they brought it in their grass hut. They killed that lion after it killed their oldest son.

What do lion trainers use with full grown lions? They use whips and chairs. Even though they feed it from a cub, even though they raised it, even though they were cuddled, petted and loved, in the breast of that lion is a nature and that nature is to kill.

Don’t blame the lion when you bring it home and then it grows up and kills your children. You knew it was a lion when you brought it in the house.

Thanks for reading today….

3 Responses »

Each year I read my Bible through.

Usually I use a Bible I have never used and read all the notes and commentary as well as the Bible text.

This year I am reading the Bible through and skipping the italicized words. These words are not in the original language and were added by the translators to help the flow of the text. They are east to spot because they are a different type.

While reading through Exodus this week I have noticed when the animals are mentioned the goats never say skins. It just says goats. The text reads ram skins, and badger skins, but when it comes to goats it only says goats. It caught my attention.

I have no idea if I know the answer or if it is even important, but here is my thought.

Is it possible this was the only thing worth using on a goat? If so, there would be no reason to add the word skin. Hebrew being a compact language with no vowels was conservative with adjectives so the translators added them to help the English reader.

If my simple thought is feasible, it would mean the parts of other animals had use. Therefore the text identifies when it is referring to that part of a ram or badger. But when speaking of a goat there was no need to mention the skin for nothing else about the animal was usable. Nothing inside the goat was good for anything. It’s only value was it’s skin.

The analogy I drew was that there are people like that. They are empty and hollow inside. All they have to offer our world is the skin everyone sees. So they have to try and improve it with cosmetics (make-up), and jewelry, and artificial means. This draws attention to the only thing they have to offer, the outside, which can be seen by the everyday person.

This is not the way a follower of Christ lives. The good stuff, if you please, is on the inside. We do not flaunt the skin, but rather realize we have much more to offer our world than an artificial appearance. It is the primary reason the New Testament teaches us to avoid the artificial on the outer man and let the inner man shine though.

It is the fruit of the spirit that God wants the world to see. When you put honesty and loyalty and sincerity up against lipstick and rouge and eye liner it is easy to see why the person who is empty inside needs to glamorize the skin. They are a goat, and it is all they have to offer the world.

A true child of God has much more to offer the world than just their skin. They offer love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.

It is hard for the light of Christ to shine through when your skin is painted with the artificial elements of the world. Our command is let your light so shine before men. There is nothing more beautiful to man and to God than a Christian woman adorned with godliness and holiness. She stands out, people notice her purity. You see her light glowing through, and Christ is magnified and lifted up.

When a person paints the skin, adorns the skin, it is a notice of what is lacking inside. It is all they have to offer our world.

Thanks for reading today…….

10 Responses »

There is a fascination with death in my life. Death has claimed many, my mother, my father, my step mom, my pastor Bro Terry. So many they are adding up. It makes me want to run and live life to it’s fullest.

We have questions. What is on the other side? What happens when we take our last breath? Are we instantly in God’s presence? Do we just sleep until the resurrection? Do angels come and carry us home?

As unwanted and feared as death is, the Bible speaks of a second death 4 times: Rev 2.11, 20.6, 20.14, and 21.8. I cannot imagine going through the process two times.

Death was brought on by sin. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, part of the curse and judgement was death. For His own reasons, God gave Satan the power of death. Heb 2.14 this power simply means he held the souls in Hades until Christ came and set them free at his resurrection. Satan never controlled the moment the person died that is in the hands of God alone.

It is appointed unto men once to die Heb 9.27. Does this mean there is an appointed moment? (Unusual deaths). Does it mean simply you will die? One of the most comforting things about death is if we willingly die now to our flesh, and Jesus comes before we die we will never die.

Then there is John 11.26 where Jesus says if we believe on him we will never die. This is why I believe we go immediately into Christ’s presence, no soul sleep. Our bodies wait for the resurrection, but our spirits go to be with the Lord.

Causes of natural death can be cancer, heart attacks, accidents, something stops working and there is a chain reaction. Some deaths are sudden, some long and painful. Sometimes there are indicators that something is wrong, others simply drop dead.

Indicators are things like loss of appetite, pain that was not there in your life that suddenly showed up, blood in your urine is an indicator. There are all kinds of symptoms that signal something is wrong.

There are a lot of parallels in our physical bodies and our spiritual bodies. For one thing, both can die. Both will be inseparatable at judgement. Your natural body can and does affect your spiritual body. I personally believe your spiritual body can and does affect your natural body through stress and guilt and fear. So they are connected.

We often care more for our natural body more than our spiritual body. If we get up late and over sleep the spiritual man is pushed to second place while we curry and fuss over the natural man.

We see doctors and go to emergency to make sure our pain is not signaling a potential problem.

When I measure this against the spiritual man, I feel we are generally as a rule, less attentive to our spiritual symptoms; depression, anger, spiritually cold, loss of appetite, hatred, jealousy, and indifference, all signal spiritual problems.

It is true in both the natural and the spiritual that sometimes when left alone the body heals itself. The ship rights itself. But if the symptoms continue and do not heal them self, something is wrong.

When we get scared naturally we go to the doctor, but many times we ignore and endure the symptoms spiritually. We waste away because we refuse to confront the symptoms. Maybe we even try and it continues for so long, so many years, we give up. Maybe we have dealt with the same issue spiritually for so many years we are tired of trying to get it fixed.

Then when the symptoms are ignored they wreak havoc and people sometimes drop dead spiritually. Because we cannot see the spiritual man, sometimes the spiritual man is emaciated and needs care or death is certain.

Jesus came to open a Holy Ghost clinic for all the spiritually sick and needy today. His clinic is free and certain, all are welcome. There is one near you. It is called a church.

Thanks for reading today…..

3 Responses »

The Apostles

The twelve men Jesus chose. It is not politically correct but Jesus did not choose any women. They were all males. All early church leadership were males, no females. Was the decision a cultural condition that would change with time or is it still the preference of God?

Peter, Andrew, James and John.

Matthew, Thaddaeus, Thomas, Bartholomew,

Philip, Simon the Canaanite

James the son of Alphaeus, Judas Iscariot, these twelve Jesus chose.

They were fishermen, tax collectors, radicals and zealots. They were common men and not highly educated. This collection of men would probably never be found again under any circumstances in man’s sojourn on planet earth. They were a unique assortment. Yet they followed Jesus for over three years. Jesus saw something in them that He approved of. Jesus saw something He could use.

Jesus saw beyond their craft, beyond their abilities in the world market place. Jesus saw beyond their past successes and failures in all walks of life. He saw past their deficiencies and limitations. Jesus did not see their liabilities. He saw potential not perfection, or personality. Jesus saw future glory, not past failure. He saw leaders in the rough. He saw disciples in the raw clay of humanity. They were unformed and unfinished, yet still, Jesus saw what no one else would ever have seen.

Jesus still does this, and has done it in all of our lives. He sees what we cannot see. He is in the business of transformation. The defects do not disqualify those whom Jesus works on. Jesus has never been limited by someone’s past failures. The road ahead is paved with signs of success when Jesus takes the wheel of your life. He proved it in the lives of twelve ordinary men.

There was nothing extraordinary in these lives. They would have died unheralded and unrecorded, except they met Jesus, and followed Him. That one decision changed their life, and by extension our lives, and all of eternity.

They did not lose their uniqueness when they fell in behind Jesus. They were not marginalized and homogenized into a clone. They were twelve individuals and maintained their own particular idiosyncrasies. Their pasts were not changed, only their futures.

They were not perfect,even after being with Jesus for years. They were living examples of how Jesus joins a life and never pirates a life vessel. Jesus joins our life when He is wanted and invited. These men wanted Jesus in their life and Jesus took them as they were and worked with all they were, warts and all.

Each of them in his own moment of decision decided to follow and obey Jesus. Each of them could have become obfuscated and left the group, and eventually one did. One decision changed their life forever. The decision to follow Jesus.

The genesis of that decision did not reveal where it would lead. The next few years of their life would present many vistas of conflict, fear, rejection, uncertainty, and ultimately reward. They would experience moments of absolute certainty they made the right choice. This would be followed by the moment when all seemed lost at the cross. And then, the moment when they realized their simple choice of following Jesus was the ultimate choice any human could make.

That choice was the envy of angels, and the chagrin of demons.

Jesus is still enlisting disciples for his kingdom. He does not ask you to change occupations as a rule. He does not ask you to change your personality and become a stamped image of Christianity. All Jesus has ever asked of any potential follower is to follow. Forget your past, look to your future. Your liabilities are never His limitations.

What you become will never be based on what you have been.

Follow Jesus…

F O L L O W

F- follow wherever the path leads, the final destination will be worth it.

O- obey and trust, never allow the circumstance to impinge or darken the goal.

L- lead, let Jesus lead you, not philosophy or men’s ideologies.

L- learn, we must learn new ways, the ways of Christ.

O- only Jesus, no one else, no other voices.

W- ways, only His ways work, all else leads to conflict, and failure.

Give Jesus your mess, and let Him turn it into a mess-age of life. That is the story of twelve men; The Apostles.

The voice you listen to will determine the life and future you live.

Follow Jesus.

Thanks for reading today….

2 Responses »

Yesterday I was in a Walmart parking lot. I have bought a New Chevrolet Suburban and the temporary paper plate they put in the window expired on the 26th. I had the new license plates, but had not put them on yet. Not wanting to get a ticket, I stopped at Walmart to buy a screw driver to put the new plates on. While I am doing my little project I hear a small voice say “Young man are you stealing those?” I ignore it because I am concentrating and I hear it again, louder, “Young man are you stealing those license plates?”

I turn and look and there is this very little wizened lady glaring at me. She is about four feet ten inches tall, probably weighed ninety pounds. Looked to me she was close to a hundred years old. Her head is cocked sideways and she is looking at me through glasses that are so thick they appear to be coke bottle ends. My first thought is amazement. She said young man and I am 65 years old! I am not a young man anymore. Close on the heels of that thought is I cannot believe this little female is accosting someone much bigger and with a screwdriver in his hand. I was so stunned for several moments I just stared at her. That didn’t help. She was getting very agitated. I had parked far out in the parking lot so people would not bang up the doors of my new vehicle. So, here she is, glaring at me probably thinking she is stopping a criminal.

I smiled and spoke very kindly. I explained my temporary registration had expired and I needed to put my new license plates on. She just looked at me. She never uttered a word. She did not appear to believe me. She grimaced, turned and got into her old battered jalopy (as old as she was) that she had parked very close to my new Suburban, gunned her motor, and sped away across the parking lot diagonally. No doubt sure that she had intercepted a crime in the process.

I stood watching as she careened across the parking lot. I grinned and said, well that will be me in a few years…..

Thanks for reading today.

One Response »

2.14-18 what a moment. The spirit of God moved out from behind the veil to the streets of the city. This was a monumental moment of spiritual change. This is the spirit of God moving on the waters (people), of the second cosmos. The result was the same, some of the water was raised to the heavens. Before the wind ceased, 3000 people would be raised in spiritual elevation by being baptized and spirit filled. Truly this moment was redemptive and spectacular. A drowning man acts in crazy ways and these people were being submerged in the Holy Ghost waters. Jesus had made reference to this in John 7.37-39, the Holy Ghost is likened to a river that flows. The power of a river is enormous. It brings life, it brings great civilizations, it brings culture and economy. Rivers change the landscape and carve canyons. Rivers create natural boundaries. The river of God once flowed out of Eden, and was now flowing out of an upper room. This river, alluded to in Ezekiel, brings life and change to any thing and any person it touches. When this river of God’s spirit touched the people in the upper room it caused a reaction that was likened to a drunken man. The effects were observable and immediate. Peter quickly identifies this phenomenon as fulfillment of the prophet Joel. It is the pouring out of the Spirit of God. The river was flowing and the waters were being divided. Sons of God were being raised from the waters below. Ezekiel 47.9 tells us “and every thing shall live whither the river cometh”.

2.19-21 the natural world is used to demonstrate the impact of the unseen world of the spirit. This is no small moment. This is galactic and cosmos to the max. This incredible spiritual moment is akin to the original happenings of the first creation of the cosmos. Things are happening here unseen by the natural eye. Peter makes sure to inform the crowd of the unseen happenings. And the proclamation is sent out on the waters of this river; whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

2.22-24 Jesus. This is about Jesus. This is not about a new religion, although that was the natural result. This was not about the mighty Roman Empire, this was about the second cosmos which made the Roman Empire but a speck on the timeline of human history. Peter now focus’ on the real issue, Jesus. Jesus from Nazareth. Nazareth rejected him just as some of these were about to, so Peter begins there as a subtle warning of rejecting this phenom. Jesus was a man approved (to show off, exhibit), by miracles and signs. Jesus had been killed by their wicked hands. The word picture is graphic. These people had been tried and convicted in the tribunal of heaven. But God had raised this same Jesus up having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible (capable), that Jesus could be retained by death. Death the ultimate foe of Adam had been taken off the throne. Death that had reigned from the dawn of time over every man and woman was now conquered. Jesus took death into his dying body and overcame it. Jesus’ own proclamation was “I have the keys of death, hell, and the grave”. Death wrestled life out of every mortal for 4,000 years, but when death touched Jesus, it was not possible for death to hold Jesus. Jesus broke asunder the bands of death. Paul echoed this when he exclaimed “O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory”? When a person receives the Holy Ghost, the birth into the second cosmos, death has no power, death is defeated.

2.25-28 David. Successful lawyers seldom rely on just one witness. Even a star witness is supported by lesser witnesses. The preponderance of testimony is used to convince conclusively their argument. Here, Peter offers a single witness. Peter knows the singular testimony of David is enough. After presenting the testimony of David, the spirit of God, through Peter, rests it’s case. David’s testimony on the resurrection is proof conclusive. The defense rests.

2.29-36 the closing argument. David was not speaking of his own resurrection. David being a prophet, was speaking of his son, the Christ, the coming messiah. This was irrefutable proof in the eyes of these Jewish people gathered from across the empire. David’s son had been raised from the dead. You have slain him with wicked hands, but God has raised him from the dead. This Jesus hath God raised up. Jesus is exalted (elevated), and now Jesus has shed forth this that ye now see and hear. Peter again presents his star witness. David said, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. God hath made Jesus both Lord and Christ. The case now passes to the jury. The jury makes the correct verdict quickly. We are guilty. God in His infinite wisdom directs men to be their own Judge, and the effect is always powerful. The question heaven was waiting to hear is launched by the multitude. What shall we do?

2.37 Heaven had been pregnant with this question for four thousand years. Since Eve stretched out her hand and slowly closed her fingers around the forbidden fruit and death was summoned, heaven had waited with bated breath for this moment. Rivers of blood had flowed. Sacrifices had been slain by the tens of thousands. The bondage of sin had held the sons of Abraham in Egyptian slavery for four days ( a day is as a thousand years). Now the moment had come. The answer shattered the age old Jewish system. A new day had dawned, not just in Jerusalem or Israel, but in the future of all mankind. The second cosmos exploded into operation and three thousand would be born into it the first day. When the sun set on that fateful, fruitful day, God said “It is good”.

Thank you for reading today…

One Response »

2.3-4 tongues like as of fire. At the Tower of Babel tongues scattered the world’s people into the far corners of the globe. This is the moment tongues assembles those dispersed people back into unity, purpose and direction. As Adam and Eve both spoke their first conversation, so now God is speaking to his new family of the church. The second man Adam is speaking to his bride, the church. Here in Jerusalem at the feast of the first fruits, the first sheaf of the New Covenant was being waved in thanksgiving to the reaping of the world harvest that was beginning. These Jews present had come from all over the world to celebrate the giving of the law on Sinai. On this momentous occasion the law was again being written, but this time it was being written on human hearts rather than stone tablets. It was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah promising a new covenant. The paraclete ( the Holy Spirit as advocate or guide), had arrived. 

2.5-13 the assembled nations. These fifteen countries of dispersed Jews represented the whole world being visited by the supernatural creation of the church. In Genesis creation is natural, in Acts creation is spiritual. If we consider the works of Strabo (a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian who lived in Asia Minor during the transitional period of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire), we can easily see this list represents a bird’s eye view of the Roman Empire. These fifteen nations represent the old Parthian kingdom, the old territory of the Medes, and the Persians. The Greek speaking nations of the empire are not listed, as the tongues would not have impacted them for they spoke Greek already. It is notable that verse five clearly states, these were people from every nation under heaven. The tongues ushered in by the mighty wind gathered the dispersed from around the globe and introduced them to the spiritual creation of God, the church. The second creation had occurred and it was good. 
Thanks for reading today. 

Leave a Response »

Verses 1-2

2.1 This Chapter is tantamount to Genesis 1. Genesis records the creation and beginning of all things. This chapter records the creation of the church and the beginning of all things relative to the church. From the inception, this salvation is for all people, all nations. The occasion of Acts 2 was not an accident. It was purposed by God as sure as the original creation of matter. Paul assures us of this when he says “when the fullness of time was come”. There are no accidents or coincidences with God. The creation of the church was in the mind of God before the first ray of light shattered the primeval darkness. God decided to redeem fallen man before man was created. Acts 15.18 says known unto God are all His works from the beginning of creation. To treat the church worldwide as an afterthought, or an alternate plan is the greatest of insults. It would mean God never intended to save the world, but was Himself a racist by only favoring a select group of people. This chapter is the inception, the beginning, of all the plan of God since Genesis. The panoramic unfolding of eternal salvation and gospel is now launched by Jesus Christ after His successful earthly ministry. It comes with force and explosive announcement.

2.2 rushing mighty wind. The assembled masses outside would never see the glory inside the upper room without some display or noise. So God sends the Holy Ghost in a mighty way and notifies those within earshot of the creation of the church. As in Genesis, it is no quiet beginning, but rather a Big Bang. Science says our universe began with a cataclysmic explosion. They probably are right. God spoke and things exploded into being. The same pattern manifests itself here. There is a divine announcement something is happening. In the original creation the Sons of God shouted for joy, and in this second creative act, the Sons of God again shout for joy. People from far away places like modern day Iran were witness of this incredible happening. In the days of the apostles Jewish communities were located primarily in the eastern Roman Empire. Greek was the common language. The people present in this chapter were from as far away as Mesopotamia and further east including Parthia, Media and Elam (present day Iran). God was announcing something powerful and exciting was happening. As in the Old Testament happening to the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 19, after the wind there would be a voice. And the voice was the purpose of the wind.

Thanks for reading today….

One Response »