Category: Improvement

Posted on

Radical Submission

Praise the Lord ASR Family,

I recently read an amazing book and would like to share some excerpts from it, Radically Apostolic by Bishop Charles G. Robinette. I believe this book is going to shake the spiritual foundation of anyone who reads it with an open and spiritually hungry mind. We all want to make it to heaven but we won’t make it without radical submission. Everyone who is coming to the National Rally will certainly want to have read this book in advance of his teaching there.

Rev. Stephen M. Merritt, Missionary to Samoa wrote this testimony: Bro. Robinette was away visiting other churches within the region. I was required to make sure the Apostolic Ministry Training Center
(AMTC) was operational and runnng smoothly in Bro. Robinette’s absence. I can’t say what it was exactly that caused me to undermine that responsibility, but I did. (Even now, reliving this moment brings me to tears.) Word gets to Bro. Robinette that school did not start on time and the AMTC module of excellence and Apostolic responsibility was broken through my lact of urgency and readiness.

Later that day I received a text from Bro. Robinette expressing his disappointment in my performance and promptness. As I read the message, defiance, self-justification, and self preservation rose within me. I quickly typed a response. As I typed each letter and word into the message box … my inner glorified conscience was telling me to step back and reconsider In a fit of defiance, I sent the message.

It was a few days later that I received a reply from Bro. Robinette simply saying, “We’ll talk when I get back.”

From that moment to the moment he arrived … my mind raced, my spirit burned and my emotions churned within me. I knew deep down that what I had done was wrong. It was an act of rebellion and defiance.
For the next few days I lost my appetite to eat, I could not sleep, and my morning and nights were plagued with great conviction. I felt as though something was building within me that was going to burst forth from the inside out. Monday arrived and Bro. Robinette texted me, asking if I could meet him at his house.

As I sat on the train heading to his house, thoughts raced through my mind: thoughs of what I had done, thoughts of what he was going to say, and thoughts of worse-case scenarios and best-case scenarios. Powerful emotions went through me. My body leterally ached with conviction. As I disembarked the train and boarded the bus, my heart began to race even faster and my palms began to sweat: Something was happening within me that I could not explain. This was not the typical “going to the principal’s office” feeling. It was something much more powerful, much more supernatural!

When I finally arrived at Bro. Robinette’s house, I stepped down off the bus and began walking to the front door. I still did not know what I was going to say; as a matter of fact, I had no idea how I was even going to respond. I had to decide to either entertain, follow the spirit of rebellion, and go the way of self-justification and self-preservation, or surrender to the evident work of the Holy Ghost.

It was at that moment when I knocked on the front door and Bro. Robinette opened the door … Seeing him standing caused all those emotions and feelings to burst forth into storm of sorrow and repentance … It was supernatural … I physically fell down in the doorway and wrapped my arms around his legs crying out in repentance and submission. I can look back now at the moment and clearly see without a doubt that it was in that moment of radical submission to God and to the man of God that God allowed something to shift within me that became the catalyst for eponential revival everywhere my feet were planted. There are no substitutes, no replacements, and no alternatives for radical submission.

When we serve spiritual authority, radically submit to spiritual authority, pray for spiritual authority, trust spiritual authority, honor spiritual authority, and humble ourselves before spiritual authority, God will bless us abundantly!

What a story, does this resonate with you? This is one example in the book, of which there are many, including Bro. Robinette’s radical submission to others. (Hebrews 13:17) We fool ourselves if we are not willing to submit to spiritual authority.

Diane Beall
Ladies Chaplain, ASR Motorcycle Ministry International

Posted on

Bind The Strong Man 2019, Myrtle Beach, SC, March 1 – 2

Everything is in motion for Bind The Strong Man 2019 (BTSM). Many of you have shared the flyers on social media and I encourage you to continue to do so. Please help keep this event at the top of your page. You never know who will see it and decide to attend. Our church seats about 250 and we’d love to have full capacity for a powerful all–night move of God! Remember the dates and location…Friday night, March 1, 2019, from 8:00 PM until Saturday March 2, 2019, at 7:00 AM. Christian Life Center, 124 April Gray Lane, Myrtle Beach, SC 29579. 

I’ve had several inquiries about the event name, “Bind The Strong Man.” It comes from Mark 3:27 where Jesus says, “No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.” Before studying the scripture, I had a common misconception about its meaning. As with all Scripture, it must be read in context of surrounding Scripture to gain understanding…The “strong man” is Satan and the “house” is his domain. The “goods” are what he possesses—in this case, a blind and mute man whom Jesus releases from the power of a demon (Matthew 3:22). Jesus cannot use Satan’s power to cast out the demon because He needs to bind Satan in order to free the man.

This is what we strive for and what we hope to better understand after Bro. Hurt’s teachings at the BTSM 2019! Remember, the public is invited and everyone is encouraged to attend and bring guests. There is no charge! We encourage all ASR Members to attend as this kicks off our annual riding and witnessing season! 

Chaplains, BTSM 2019 will be especially helpful to you! If we expect to see changes in our lives and the lives of those for whom we pray, we need to know more about prayer and how to become a true Prayer Warrior! Fasting sets the foundation for this event! Personally, I will be doing at least a 3–day (possibly longer) water–only fast the weekend before BTSM 2019. Please join me as there is power in numbers and let me know you’re participating so I can pray for you during this time. Towards the middle of February, I’ll be posting more on the two ASR Facebook pages (“ASR Friends” and “ASR Members Only”) to remind you, but please mentally prepare for fasting now…it helps! 

The response for financially help fund BTSM 2109 from the ASR membership has been fantastic! Although BTSM is a “nationally sanctioned” ASR event, it is still fully funded by the local chapter of ASR and/or the local church. For this reason and due to the anticipated expenses, we’re asking any ASR member and/or ASR supporter for donations (fully tax deductible). 100% of the funds will be used for direct expenses for the event to include, airfare, meals and an honorarium for Bro. Hurt, plus snacks for the all–night event and breakfast Saturday morning for all ASR attendees. If funds are received above the expenses incurred, all excess funds will go to our “Motorcycles for Missionaries” program. Please help! Any donation is appreciated! The best way to donate is to mail a check to me that’s made out to CLC of Myrtle Beach. Mark on the check for 2019 BTSM. Fred Beall, 3501 North Kings Highway, Suite 103–B, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577.

PLEASE RESPOND PROMPTLY SO WE CAN GET FUNDING OUT OF THE WAY AND CONCENTRATE ON PLANNING. 

Thank you and God bless…

Fred Beall
Azusa StreetRiders, Myrtle Beach, SC

Additional comment from our National Secretary Bro Tom Thompson

Bind the strong man event:
I would like to personally invite all members and beyond to this event. My wife Renaye and I are eyewitnesses to Bro. George Hurt’s ability to reach God through his prayer techniques. The presence of God was so thick that day it’s hard to put to words. “Amazing” is only one word that comes to mind. He talked to the four of that were in hotel room for little while, then prayed. We were all speaking in tongues and he instructed Renaye to step forward. She did, she walked few steps and he said, “Sister you’re walking!” She looked as if she saw ghost. He told her, “Don’t stop now!” She walked all over that hotel room, kept walking past wall mirror and saying, “I’m walking!” That was first time in 5.5 years that she was even able to put weight on left foot/leg, not to forget first time walking. I urge you all, if you can only attend one event this year, make it “Bind The Strong Man!”
Thank you
Bro. Tom Thompson
ASR Secretary

Posted on

Big News About ASR Website!

Dear Azusa StreetRiders (and friends):

Very soon the ASR ministry will unveil a newly remodeled (actually rebuilt from the ground up) main ASR website (and online store). Starting now, you can already use our two main Facebook groups (see links below) to discuss all things ASR and especially anything related to ministry to lost souls. Please note: the newly rebuilt website will no longer have a built-in forum nor be designed “primarily” to facilitate discussion. It will be possible to “comment” on its public posts, but other than that, even after the new site is unveiled, dialogue will continue to be facilitated by the Facebook groups (see the following links). The ASR national board did not make such a decision lightly, and beneath the following links, I will explain why the decision was called for.

CHAT WITH ASR ON FACEBOOK!

ASR & Friends Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ASR.Friends.Group/

ASR Official Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ASR.Discussion.Group/

Technology applications can often be like “shifting sand” — certain choices, though well intentioned, can fail at being foundation-worthy for the long haul.  Finding a technology setup that can whether the tests of time is a challenge.

I’m Pastor Doug Joseph. I am an ASR and I serve in a completely volunteer capacity as the main administrator behind the most recent ASR websites and mobile apps.

Back when I was first approached by ASR Founder, Fred Beall, about taking over as volunteer web admin, ASR’s technical needs constituted a tall order. Because the needs were quite complex, it greatly limited our choices of what platforms could serve well or even halfway decently. I selected the best platform I could find that had the capability to meet all the complex needs, or at least be extendable so as to meet all the complex needs — as well as possible at the time.

Things were done right at the start of our ASR website, and the site served quite well for a time. However, after literally tens of thousands of fake “spam-bot” accounts were created on our site, and none of the anti-bot, anti-spam tools at our disposal proved effective, we had to change the site’s policy for new accounts over to an invitation-only setup. That was certainly less than ideal.

Also, over time, the software platform we had selected fell further and further behind the “state of the art” when it came to its CMS (content management system) features. Even at the time I selected it, the CMS features were crude. And as modern CMS products, including wonderful, free, open-source platforms such as WordPress, were providing better and better tools, such as easy, drag-and-drop, button-click simplicity, with “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” convenience, the archaic CMS features of the platform we were using, proved very limiting.

The ASR ministry had also, through me, hired an app-coder (who specialized in our selected platform) to create ASR mobile apps (both iOS and Android). However, as time went by, Apple’s deliberately frustrating policies — which are designed to intentionally force a cycle of obsolescence onto apps that have nothing internally wrong with them, forced our iOS app onto the ash heap of “unusable” apps. iPhone users beyond a certain generation of the iOS (operating system) found themselves blocked from using our ASR mobile app on their phone. Apple’s policies insisted we have a developer update the code and recompile the deliverable as a newer version. Without a site we felt comfortable with, and with our platform falling further and further behind, we did not pursue recompiling the app.

I was probably the last one to admit we needed to overhaul the site, due to two understandable reasons: (1) Because of all the major investment of hours and hard work I had put into the site, I naturally had a bit of emotional investment that made me more blind to the creeping shortcomings. (2) Because I knew how tall of an order the ASR’s complex needs were, I did not know of any better solution. This fact made me unable to consider an overhaul, as I did not know a way to do one successfully.

It was our former president, the original founder of the ASR ministry, Brother Fred Beall, that astutely suggested we consider lightening the load, by reducing the requirements, through moving the discussion forum off site. That one spark of genius was enough to help me reorient my thinking.

Many organizations I know, including some non-profits, use a similar setup: leave the dialogue/forum features to an off-site platform such as Facebook, and then concentrate on what remains, on the main “proprietary” site. After much deliberation, this is the approach the ASR national board has voted to take. I serve at their pleasure, and even though the vote means a mountain of work for me, I am in favor of the change. I think I can say on behalf of the board (and please note I am not a national officer): “We hope you understand why the changes were needed, and we pray you are blessed by the new site, and will join us on the Facebook groups for ongoing ASR discussion!”

Posted on

Store is back open

Thank you for your patience while we were updating our products and payment system. We are back up and running again. You can now shop and pay your dues. Invoices will be mailed out this week. First week of February.

Laureen Theodore
International Treasurer

Posted on

Happy New Year! Plus all-new gearings behind “Rumblings” newsletter!

ASR-Site

Yes, the amount of work we still have left to do is mind numbing, but look how far we’ve come already! Thank you, Jesus! Truly, if we had to get it all done in a hurry, the work still remaining is enough to drive a guy batty. So our sense of sanity and stability in all that is being undertaken is well summarized in a concept called kaizen—a Japanese philosophy of constant improvement. To put it more kindly: painfully slow, yet steady improvement. This is a microcosm of how the overwhelming goals of life can and should be handled.

Our local church in Clarksburg is now serving as a local campus for Purpose Institute (Bible college classes), and this holiday season our church undertook hosting a local instance of Financial Peace University (using video curriculum from Christian finance guru David Ramsey). The courses for both types of schooling have been tremendous. One story from David Ramsey illustrates how powerful a slow, steady improvement can be over the long haul.

He told of young man who learned how to be careful, saving and investing his money instead of going into debt. When he had finally saved enough money, he went down to the Mercedes Benz dealership and arranged to buy his dream car. He drove it home for a “test drive,” and his wife, friends, and neighbors all went bonkers congratulating him.

“You did it!” they shouted. “You’ve arrived!” they said. However, he finally chose to not buy the $40,000 car. Why? Well, when he started to think how much that saved money could become for him if he invested it instead, and when he considered that the car purchase would pretty quickly depreciate away the huge wad of cash, he chose to invest it instead.

Twelve years later (just 12, not 42 or 52), he saw a man driving the exact same model and make of car he almost bought. The car pulled up beside him at a stoplight. It had all the same features as the one he almost bought. It was in nearly mint condition for a 12-year-old Benz.

The man said to the driver of the nice, used Benz, “Excuse me, sir. Is that an ’82?”

“Yes!” came the reply.

“Nice!” he complimented.

“Thanks!”

“Would you mind to tell me what your car is worth right now?”

The driver of the used Benz went on to say that the car was in like-new condition, and he had just bought it for $4,000.

The man (who had chosen not to buy the same type of Benz when it was new) thanked the other driver, and went on about his business. He had invested the $40,000—he had socked it away in a mutual fund, with the dividends set to stay in the fund, for compounding of interest. He had never touched the money since.

When he got a chance, he checked on the value of his money then. The accumulated value, with interest? About $400,000. No gimmicks. Just time, and slight, positive improvements with each passing day.

I’m not just thinking about money. In the same way that we’re working to (painfully slowly) improve and enhance the ASR sites/programming, you can work daily to improve your life, your skills, your relationships, your finances, whatever. Maybe you need to lose some weight. Maybe you need to shed an addiction. The Apostle Paul once wrote of being able to withstand both failure and success, not being tripped up by either (see Philippians 4:13). It’s an important part of our life as a Christian. You can do it, in Jesus name! Anything can get amazingly better over time, with tiny improvements each day. As we enter this new year of 2014, let’s not just make a bunch of over-the-top “resolutions” (likely impossible deadlines for hard-to-reach goals). Instead, deliberately, carefully, intentionally make every day count, even if only by just the tiniest bit of improvement. God bless you in 2014, in Jesus name.