Steve’s Story:  With God We can Rise Up

I am a relentless student of the Bible– constantly searching for effective impacting TRUTH– not some watered down version of spirituality. This is the beginning of hearing God Almighty. 

I continue as an excited charismatic believer in a first generation family of radical Christian disciples. We don’t apologize for striving to be like Jesus and expecting to rise up in the fullness of His character. This, of course, is by yielding totally, if we can, to our Helper, the Spirit of truth by total dependence on Him to understand God’s word.

This all started when I was overpowered by the Presence of Love and surrendered completely to the Lord over 35 years ago making the impetuous statement, “I will do whatever you say to do as long as I know it is you.”.

I have spent nearly every waking moment since then proving from scripture what I think He is saying, what the TRUTH is, and, where directive to my life, doing what He says. 

I believe in putting my feet where my mouth is so to speak and decided…

• …God would lead us and
• …money would NEVER be a motivator.

The fruit of that is my family and closest friends. We might seem “peculiar” by the world’s standards, but I believe we represent well Christianity in the earth today. We are not perfect by any standard, but we are growing in LOVE, GRACE, and INNER POWER that only comes from God. And sometimes we even represent God in helping each other RISE UP and be all that He intends us individually to be. And Collectively… well God calls His people of city of lights.

As our group of family and friends grows, we see the blessings of the Lord in many lives. We are constantly favored with unexplainable confidence and affective powers to change our worlds, if not the whole world– unexplainable except we recognize it is not really us at all, but God living through us because we opened ourselves to Him.

In 2014, God’s still small voice made clear to me that His Dawn is coming and will rise. [see 2 Peter 1:19] The only question is “Who will rise with Me?”  Discipleship in this calling is in process.  Will you join my friends and family?

Some “Peculiar” Facts About Steve

The presence of God and His love filled three moments in my life that direct my decisions to this day.  Only because He said so, I made the following choices.  These choices made me who I am today.

• I moved to east Texas and chose a faith-filled Christian church teaching the Word.  Seemed God led us there.
• I slipped away from a CPA and advanced financial planning career in 1989 to join a commune-style Christian discipleship community in dedication to Do Whatever He Says.  Made no sense.
• I became ordained to minister the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and began a season of international travel and missions with global evangelists and church building apostles.   Never left home without God.
• I began to “minister” in the marketplace as a steward for people of wealth.  Unorthodox.  And tears for years.
• I moved to a church of 50 spending 20 years “in the wilderness” teaching by the Holy Spirit while joining the civic theatre group in lead roles before large crowds.  Weird combination.
• I said “No” then “Yes” when asked to begin the delivery of the message of Rise Up by walking away from the stewardship– wealth management practice and income– previously given to me. God brought in my replacement.
• I spent a sabbatical year in lonely, Spirit-led unofficial “seminary” refining my theological mind around doctrinal boundaries of the fundamental Christian faith.  My heart said “GO.”  God said, “HOLD.”

Mind you, God led me to make these choices.  And most of these transitions were not completely willing on my part, but always obedient to what I understood He was saying to me at the time.  I just happened to have a wife who trusted God more than me about these things.  A smart move.  And somehow, we made good choices, despite ourselves.

I say “despite ourselves” because I know myself and my wife. We were not raised or trained in spiritual things or even to be true disciples of Jesus Christ. In the past I would think, “It makes no sense whatsoever for God to use us as good Christian examples.”  We had to fight for every bit of ground of Christian spiritual maturity.  Whatever spiritual father figures that came temporarily into our lives, circumstances moved them out of our lives. It seemed as if our heavenly Father wanted that exclusive right.  And He knew our hearts were His in spite of our weaknesses.

Our spirits were wholly open to the Holy Spirit, but sometimes, as with many people, our OLD way of thinking, our emotions and our attitudes had its own version of “what’s good.”  The biblical word of truth slowly became our conscience.

We never really struggled with submission once the Spirit of truth bore witness with our spirit and our Word trained conscience that something was from God. Despite the differences in our personalities, giftings, and thinking, this one thing I have always been able to count on from my wife– together, we remain committed to Him and His love. And, we have stayed faithful to these seemingly uncommon callings and other-world type decisions.

As for me, if God’s angels and people had a “open mouth, insert foot” club, I would be one of the well known members.  From a young age, this fourth born son, in a family of four competitive boys and the fifth born mama’s girl, I was always too self-assured, outgoing, and vocal.  At 12 years old, the teachers of my elementary school decided “he will be the perfect choice to stand in front of all the parents and speak as host of the school’s new Talent Show.”  At 54, it was nothing for me to stand in the middle of a large crowd, on a theatre stage in the round, all alone, to deliver the six minute dissertation of a leading character.  No one to cue me. No one to prompt my next blocked move or words. Words expected. Words coming confidently. Too confident.

I’ve eaten humble pie more times than I can count.  But because I love God and love His word and the hope of His perfect salvation in every life, including mine, I consistently find myself in relationships admitting, “I was wrong” and “I’ll do better.”  This is not for show or under condemnation, but under knowledge of the powerful ongoing work of Christ in me.  The same He can do for you.  I thank God for second and third chances. I trust Him to work in me not to let my mouth and stern nature get me in trouble. 

And I’m amazed. Always amazed when He picks me up, fills my mouth with His message, and His love and power happens– AGAIN.  His life pours out and, almost like a bystander, I am my faith surprised– AGAIN.   We are all learners.

In portraying to others what I myself have learned, confidence has never trumped preparation and dependence on God in the use of my giftings.  And it seems God’s focus is always “the audience, the audience.”  Truthfully, I cannot NOT DO what He wants when I recognize He wants something. 

And that’s why, along with men who have witnessed most of my life, I started Rise Up Ministries, Inc.  We know the grace of His nature and that the power of His Spirit will come to those who follow Him with us.

  Do You Need Power in Your Life?

Three times in my life something real and powerful filled the space around me.  It was not a tangible thing.  It was definitely in the unseen realm.  But the Presence was so much bigger than myself or anything rock solid around me.  It felt powerful, but approachable; inviting, yet fearsome enough to slow anyone from drawing too near too quickly.

Over the years, I learned this to be the powerful Presence of God– called ‘a consuming fire’–  yet always full of love and comfort; magnificent in light that seemed to seep into and through me leaving a residue of wisdom; somehow restrained being subject to a mysterious force – truth.  But as embraced, this Light pierces and destroys all darkness.

The time I am about to speak of happened after I had been serving the Lord as a devout Christian disciple for over 20 years.  One Sunday morning a good friend of mine at the time, Paul Baloche, led us into a wonderful time of praise leading into worship. I was “in the spirit” and it seemed as though I could touch the Presence of God. Sometimes in these moments, Paul would quiet us down to a tempo and level able to hear, yes, “just hear” God. [Amazing that a room of 200 or more could become “pin drop” quiet. Eyes closed, gently swaying, spiritual eyes and ears wide open.]

The expectation of hearing was present. And then… He spoke.  Not is an audible way, but in a gentle yet authoritative way from inside of me.

“With long life will I satisfy you and I will show you My Salvation.”

That was it.  That’s all I heard.  But it was enough to change my life and define the appointment of God over me as His instrument for the rest of my life.

Of course, as is my custom, I would research this in the Bible and break it down for its truth and what it meant for me. That’s another story. But for purposes of this ministry introduction, I found this:

“With a long life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation.” — Psalm 91:16

A few questions should come to your mind as it did to mine.

• Why do I need to have long life (or “length of days”) to see God’s salvation if it is only AFTER DEATH?
• And how does long life “satisfy” me? It sounds like I would see His salvation during my lifetime on earth. Is this right?
• And finally, what exactly is the “My salvation” God speaks about?  What does God want to “show” me?  Is it about only my life? Or, does it involve many others?

The short version of my interpretation is…

• I will see A DAY OF SALVATION in the earth when true believers will powerfully glorify God– man-kind will become god-kind again as God intended (Genesis 1:26).
• God can and will “manifest” as He did in Jesus; the lives of “man”-kind will show forth Him and the god-like-ness or godliness He intended in providing His great salvation to true believers.
• His great salvation will bring Him glory partly as He helps believers succeed, prosper, and be in health in this present life.

I came to understand that there was great power in the understanding of His salvation in our PRESENT LIFE. This power is findable by any who will seek Him. We know the power of His Spirit will come to those who follow Him with us. This power changes everything about a person’s life and when we seek first His kingdom and His ways, favor and tangible blessings follow the glory given God (Matthews 6:33).

About Rise Up Ministries, Inc

If you do not want your life to change, you should close this page and never come back.  Once I recognize God wants me to do something, I feel I cannot NOT DO it.  Recognizing is the key.  The Spirit of Truth is the Helper.  The transitions are the tough part.

Along with men who have witnessed most of my life, Rise Up Ministries, Inc. was started to work with the Holy Spirit of truth to teach how to hear and recognize God’s heart for us.  We know the power of His Spirit will come to those who follow Him with us.

Unfortunately, this ministry is about CHANGE because only in changing ourselves do we truly tap the power God has for us.  It is my expectation that everyone who learns to follow the Holy Spirit with us and learns of His teachings will RISE UP in the true and lasting power of the changed and glorious life God intended.  I am just a vessel and a teacher using this ministry to help you achieve the next stage of your power under Christ Jesus that ultimately brings God the glory.

Mission Statement

Prepare People for Power

The Mission is to TEACH Christians to HEAR God and BE who He intends them to be; to help them IMPACT the world by REACHING into the power of God and using it to REIGN over all situations in life.

The key is for Christians to YIELD to the Dawn and Morningstar RISING within them.

We believe this is the righteousness of Christ rising from within.

  [Mission Scriptural Base: Rom 2:14-16; Rom 5:1-2, 17; 2 Peter 1:16-19]