Releasing a Mantle of Harvest over Texas

The Lord began to speak to the elders of Prince of Peace Church about three months ago that we were going to have our “time reset.”  You can listen to a message on this from September 26, 2010 by going to the “Sunday Messages” link at www.pophop.org.  There were many confirming messages that it was going to be a switch from Sunday morning to Friday night.  

The Lord would not release a specific strategy.  We kept praying and waiting.  In the above mentioned sermon, one of our elders, Joe Stark, and I shared vivid dreams we both had the same night regarding the need for Prince of Peace (and the church at large) to shed off any remaining “religious” garments and to move ahead at His voice and command.

While attending Christ the King Church in Waco (following the Gonzales assignment) the Lord clearly gave direction as Pastor Ramiro Pena spoke. We are going to shift to Friday nights – BUT JUST THE FIRST FRIDAY NIGHT OF EACH MONTH.  The rest of the month will be our regular schedule.  

This First Friday, the Lord said, will be a time to release a HARVEST MANTLE on and through Prince of Peace.  We are meeting that Friday night so that Saturday and Sunday we can be actively involved in imparting, releasing and gathering harvest in the Arlington/DFW/Texas area.

WE ASK YOU TO JOIN US THIS FRIDAY (November 5) as we release the mantle.  Worship starts at 7 PM at Prince of Peace Church (1701 Martin Luther Drive in Arlington). Pastor Ramiro Peña will be speaking.

Ramiro and Orphalinda Peña are the founders and pastors of Christ the King Baptist Church of Waco and the founders of Peña Fiel, Inc. The Lord has used them to plant 10 other churches in Texas, Mexico, Cuba and India since 1996.

Ramiro began in youth ministry in 1982 and was licensed and ordained as a Baptist pastor in 1985 in Temple, TX. He is a graduate of Baylor University with a B.A. in Religion and has done graduate work in Philosophy and Business. A frequent speaker for revivals, crusades and events for men, he has ministered in Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala, Argentina, Singapore, India and Germany. He has served on several ministry boards and currently serves on the Baylor University Board of Regents.

Why San Felipe?

We are called to release an army to follow the Ark of God's presence.

We are to gain the boundaries the Lord has established for us.

We are here to declare the government of our Lord against the tyranny of Satan.

Lord instructed us to retrace the steps of the 1835-36 Texas War for Independence.  We are to go to the sites of specific events on the 175th anniversary of those events.  The first event of the revolution took place in Gonzales on October 2, 1835.  Our second stop on the Independence Trail will be November 6 in San Felipe, Texas.

Chuck Pierce declared on October 10:

"In the midst of this struggle you are in and how you enter this season of war is how you'll gain the boundaries of your inheritance and all the blessings of your inheritance. Who you war FOR and HOW you express your warfare is how He's going to pour in your covenant blessings in days ahead. "Some of you" - the Lord is saying today - "Press further for you're about to give up a portion - Abram went the full distance and God made covenant with him and said, "It's all yours now." You might not see this (come to pass) but someone WILL see it because I Am God. There is a seed in you that says I want the full inheritance that God has for me. Let Me reorder your warfare for you now - so you receive all I have for you."

Chuck prayed, "Father expand our strength - let us look deep into the warfare around us - press us to the uttermost parts of the boundaries of our inheritance. We say we will not settle until we have moved with You the full boundaries of our future."
The consultation for the formation of a Texas Provisional Government assembled at San Felipe de Austin, on the first of November, 1835 ; but, for want of a quorum, they did not organize until the third day of the month. 

Branch T. Archer, the president of the assembly, opened its business in an appropriate (prophetic) address. 

Gentlemen: I return to you my thanks for the honor you have conferred upon me. The duties which. devolve upon the members of this body are arduous and highly important. In fact the destinies of Texas are placed in your hands and I hope, that you are now assembled, you are in every way prepared to discharge those duties in a manner creditable to yourselves and beneficial to your country. I call upon you, each and all, to divest yourself of all party feelings, to discard every selfish motive, and look alone to the true interests of your country. In the words of the Hebrew prophet I would say, "Put off your shoes, for the ground upon which you stand is holy. The rights and liberties of thousands of freemen are in your hands, and millions yet unborn may be effected by your decision." (http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/consultations4.htm)

On the 7th, the consultation, after much discussion, adopted the declaration. It was not one of independence, but of adherence to the constitution of 1824. The ordinance "establishing a provisional government" was completed on the 13th day of November, 1835. It is the earliest specimen of Anglo-Saxon law ever enforced in Texas. The consultation adjourned, to meet at Washington (on the Brazos), on the 1st day of March, 1836.  In addition to other important matters, it was provided that  "there should be a regular army created for the protection of Texas during the present war." To give aid and assistance in organizing this army, in adopting rules for its government, and in providing the personnel and materiel, General Houston remained in attendance on the governor and council until the 16th of December, when he was ordered to remove his headquarters to Washington. 

Gather with us at San Felipe on Saturday, November 6.  We will gather at 2 PM at the San Felipe Town Meeting Room at 927 6 Street in San Felipe, Texas.  We will declare the establishment of God's everlasting government.  We will call forth His army!  We will on the Lord of Hosts to release His angelic forces.  We will establish our boundaries in Him.

I’ll Meet You at the Finish Line

"Do you give the horse his might?

         Do you clothe his neck with a mane? 

"Do you make his leap like the locust?
         His majestic snorting is terrible. 

"He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength;
         He goes out to meet the weapons. 

"He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
         And he does not turn back from the sword.

"The quiver rattles against him

"The flashing spear and javelin.

"With shaking and rage he races over the ground,
         And he does not stand still at the voice of the trumpet.

"As often as the trumpet sounds he says, 'Aha!'
         And he scents the battle from afar,
         And the thunder of the captains and the war cry" (Job 39:19-25).

Secretariat rates as one of the best movies ever. What an awesome story! It's time, as God's people, to run! Here is a summary written by Pat Evans of Prince of Peace Church:

 

"Since I saw the movie Secretariat yesterday I can’t stop thinking of all the lessons to be learned from each character in the story. The homemaker who risked everything to follow her call and her passion; the jockey who continued to get mud slung all over his face because his horse was always behind in each race, but he understood the horse’s spirit. The trainer who had a failed career, and the quiet and humble man who slept in the stable with the horse and just kept doing his job in faith. AND of course the horse, whose heart it was discovered after his death, was 3 times the size of a normal horse. 

Two things are required for a champion race horse, speed and endurance. In The Kingdom there is no such thing as coincidence. It seems evident the Lord arranged for the movie about Secretariat to be released this year. This is the year that we (believers) are to run with the horses in unbridled strength and endurance. I believe that if we want (if we ask), God will give us an enlarged capacity, an enlarged heart, to run the course set before us. 

I think too, that even if we’re late coming out of the gate, the Lord will grace us to catch up with our destiny. Scripture says He is able to make all things abound toward us. Why don’t you get your hopes up? Why don’t you get ready to run? Let’s keep our eyes focused straight ahead on the goal and run until we gain the prize of the high called in Christ Jesus. I’ll meet you at the finish line, and in the winner‘s circle!"

Check out the movie at http://www.disney.go.com/disneypictures/secretariat/.

Better yet! SEE IT! And I'll see you at the finish line too!

San Felipe – The Release of Glory - Revised

PLEASE REREAD!  CHANGE OF STRATEGY!

Checking more historical sources, the dates of the 1835 Consultation were scheduled for October 16 but were moved to November to insure greater attendance.

The Lord instructed us to retrace the steps of the 1835-36 Texas War for Independence.  We are to go to the sites of specific events on the 175th anniversary of those events.  The first event of the revolution took place in Gonzales on October 2, 1835.  Our second stop on the Independence Trail will be in November at a date to be determined.  It will still be in San Felipe, Texas.

In November of 1835, San Felipe delegates resolve against Santa Anna, vote for provisional Mexican state government and order Sam Houston to raise an army.   

We are called to release an army to follow the Ark of God's presence.

History: Stephen F. Austin State Park, in Austin County, was deeded by the San Felipe de Austin Corporation in 1940, and the park was opened to the public the same year. The park is located on the Brazos River, near the old ferry site and a part of the Commercio Plaza de San Felipe, just a few miles from the site of the township of San Felipe, the seat of government of the Anglo-American colonies in Texas.

It was here Stephen F. Austin, the “Father of Texas,” brought the first 297 families to colonize Texas under a contract with the Mexican Government. From 1824 to 1836, San Felipe de Austin was the social, economic, and political center, as well as the capital of the American colonies in Texas. Due to the many historic events that occurred here, the community acquired the reputation “Cradle of the Texas Liberty.” Also, the conventions of 1832 and 1833 and the Consultation of 1835 were held here. These meetings eventually led to the Texas Declaration of Independence. San Felipe was the home of Austin and other famous early Texans; the home of Texas’ first Anglo newspaper (The Texas Gazette, founded in 1829); the home of the postal system of Texas origination and the setting for the beginning of the Texas Rangers.

The Release of Glory - Gonzales

The Lord instructed us to retrace the steps of the 1835-36 Texas War for Independence.  We are to go to the sites of specific events on the 175th anniversary of those events.  The first event of the revolution took place in Gonzales on October 2, 1835.  A small cannon was fired as opposing forces came to retrieve it.



We are also to begin the release of God's glory into the State of Texas. 

Chuck Pierce spoke the following words over Kay and I at “The Releasing of the Fire of His Glory” meeting at New Life Church in Houston on Sunday, September 26:

"Now there’s one more thing I want you to see.  The symbol of this year means we will become one with His Glory and the Glory will begin to move and we will move with His Glory.
 
Now, Tom, I think the Lord brought you and Kay here.  You and Kay stand up.  Let’s welcome one of our key leaders in the prayer movement in this state.  Tom and Kay Schlueter.  I think the Lord brought you two here so you know that as the Ark moves you need to find the path the Ark is on in Texas.  Go back to what we saw prophetically a year or so ago when I showed it here.  I never showed it again.  Never mentioned it again actually.  This was the place God asked me to show what the State looked like from Heaven.  Follow that because there will be a move of God’s glory this year.

"

After the meeting I Spoke to him about our assignment this Saturday in Gonzales as we retrace the “War of Independence” trail.  He said to me, “Start it there.  Don’t pull anything down but release His glory.”

On Saturday, October 2, we gathered at the historical marker outside Gonzales where the actual battle had taken place. Kenneth and Sherry Poe live on the very land that belonged to Ezekiel Williams (see below).  Sherry is our county contact for the Coastal Bend Region of TXAPN.  There were eighteen (see below) of us that gathered at the marker.  After I made opening comments and prayers, Sherry read the following account of the battle:

"Regidor Joseph Clements, 9/30/1835, Gonzales: "We are weak and few in numbers (18) but will nevertheless contend for what we believe to be just principles.  God and Liberty!" As the call went out, troops from other Texas colonies began arriving and on 10/1/1835, there were 150 from Colorado, Washington, Lavaca, and Dewitt counties. Castenada, the Mexican officer in charge of the dragoons, moved his camp 7 miles west to the Ezekiel Williams farm on the banks of the Guadalupe River. The colonists in the meantime had dug up the small cannon in question from the Davis peach orchard and mounted it on wooden wheels.  On Thursday evening at 7 p.m., the Texas forces led by John Henry Moore moved across the river at the Gonzales ferry with 50 mounted men, the cannon and others on foot.  Before departure, the group had been led in a rousing prayer meeting by frontier Methodist pastor, W. P. Smith who had come from a settlement on the Colorado river.  The arrived at the battle site about 3 a.m. in a thick fog.  A barking dog alerted the Mexican army to their arrival and when the fog lifted, they found themselves in a corn and watermelon field.  They moved into an open area for battle.  A courier offered a meeting and after it was denied the cannon was filled with scrap metal and the first shot, known as the Lexington of Texas, was fired.  A rifle volley by the Texans led a small charge toward the Mexicans and they retreated to San Antonio.  The confrontation precipitated the muster of the first Texan army."

The Poes and local intercessors gathered with Kay and I, Brick and Leann Wall and Allan Parker (The Justice Foundation). We worshipped – establishing God’s presence and throne.  Through several prophetic acts we decreed our covenant with the Lord and each other.  For communion we used King David wine (heart after God/worship) from Mount Carmel (the victory over Baal). We decreed the release of glory into the State of Texas as the Ark of His presence leads the way.  We decreed our independence from those forces that tyrannically have attempted to keep us imprisoned.  Allan Parker decreed justice and life over the state.  He used a key to unlock justice.  That further confirmed the act of me giving a key (of glory) to the Poes – the landowners.  Over the next 40 days they are to continue to decreed this gate of glory open and release the attributes of our King into the State and Nation. 

We finished by pouring water from the Jordan River into the tributary of the Guadalupe River.

Our next gathering will be at 2 PM at Stephen F. Austin State Park in San Felipe on Saturday, October 16. 

The War Chest

In August I wrote two blogs entitled Muster the Troops and Victory or Death.  Reread them. At the end of "Muster the Troops" I wrote, "We serve the kingdom of God.  We are mustered for His work.  The kingdom of darkness will crumble and fall as we move together as the Lord's army.  Rise up saints of God."

The Texas Apostolic Prayer Network (TXAPN) has shifted, have you?  For over a year now prophecies have come forth that the Lord was shifting Texas into a destiny of leading the nation during the upcoming seasons.  The Lord is establishing us as a fulcrum point or anchor for a "teetering nation." 

This shift will entail extensive travel, ministry, strategic assignments and fellowship with other states and nations as we jointly serve to advance the Kingdom. Three times over the last month we sent teams to the West Coast, New York City and Georgia. This translates into the need for resources above and beyond anything experienced by TXAPN since its inception.

Think God’s not in this?  Think again. Ken Bryan and I just returned from a trip to our neighbor state Louisiana that involved all facets of who we are in this new season.  We stayed in a hotel that was formally a bank.  When we arrived at our room there was a “war chest” waiting on us, strategically gifted out of obedience to the Lord by our good friends Roger and Charlotte Merschbrock.  BUT this wasn’t just any war chest; this one is one of three sown by the late Diane Buker (Battle Axe Ministries) to Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida before her untimely death. The Lord instructed Louisiana to sow their chest to Texas to contain the resources necessary to lead the nation.

Roger Merschbrock has picked up a phrase he repeats at most prophetic gatherings.  Roger says, "Even a dog could prophecy when he’s in this group."  I’ll expand on Roger’s phrase.  "Even a dog could interpret this one."  God has given Texas a “war chest” to contain the resources that are going to flow into TXAPN this season allowing us to take our place in this next move of God and lead as He wills. Just to remind us of the need for resources we spent the night in a bank.

When we gathered for the Palo Duro Canyon reconciliation meeting I asked Ken Bryan to take up the offering.  Ken ended his exhortation of this new season with the phrase, “Are you in or you out”.  That simple statement has become a prophecy to what God intends for Texas this season.  We are called out and assigned by the Most High God, Ruler of the Universe to serve Him in ways much greater than any of us could have imagined just three years ago when I was handed the reins of TXAPN.  As much as I would like to delay or avoid the need to communicate this type message to all within earshot, I can’t.  I have a very large empty “war chest” staring at me from across the room waiting to fulfill its divine purpose.  It’s time for each of us to reevaluate how we are called to support TXAPN right now, in other words “its time to be in, not out."

You can send a gift or monthly support to: 

TXAPN

P.O. Box 3503

Arlington, Texas 76007 

or go to the eGiving link on the front page of www.txapn.org.  We serve the kingdom of God.  We are mustered for His work.  The kingdom of darkness will crumble and fall as we move together as the Lord's army.  Rise up saints of God.
 

I'm a Fencepost

On Thursday evening, Kay and I were eating supper with good friends from East Texas (Ken and Ginny Bryan) and Louisiana (Roger and Charlotte Merschbrock).  During the conversation, Roger was talking to Ken and said, "Between you and me and the fencepost..."  

I interrupted with laughter, "So, now I'm a fencepost." A couple of more times during the evening we commented on my fencepost status.

The next day at lunch we were again eating with friends (state prayer leaders from Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi and Arkansas). Once again the issue of the fencepost came up, but this time, as I was laughing, the Lord clearly spoke to my heart.  

"You are a fencepost."  

He then began to reveal to me that a fencepost was a "connector."  It provided a place or location for boards or wire to be connected with other fence posts to provide a secure boundary.  It establishes who we are in relationship with others.  A fencepost is not a fencepost unless it is connected to other posts.  Together a line is drawn across the land that says, "this place is secure, protected, owned and claimed."  And not for us but for the Lord and His kingdom.  I shared this thought with Roger and he prophetically spoke to me,  "You are not only a fencepost, but a corner fencepost.  You (and Texas) are an anchor for the rest of us."

Amen.  I'm a fencepost, but the true fencepost - the chief fencepost - is our Lord.  He is our anchor and refuge.  Through Him we are connected together to claim the earth for Him.  But that also means that you are a fencepost too.  Welcome to the work of the kingdom!

"He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home" (Ephesians 2:19b, The Message).