newsletter
Servant Ministries, Inc.
Issue No. 107 Ira & Judy Milligan Apr 1, 2007

Branson United Ministers’ Fellowship Conference Report

This year’s conference was a blast! The fellowship was wonderful, the personal ministry was good and the preaching was excellent, but most of all God powerfully manifested His presence throughout the entire time we were there. It was so good I’m already looking forward to next March when we do it again! If you were there and have a testimony to share, send it to me and I’ll try to include it in next month’s newsletter.

So many people came that next year we will have a registration system. And NO, we will not charge for the conference but you will have to register with me to attend. The conference room we use in Branson is only supposed to seat 150 and we had over 160 people in attendance.

Several people have suggested that we move the conference to a larger place to accommodate a larger crowd, but I think that would hinder our ability to relate to the people in the personal way that we do. Our vision is to build meaningful and lasting relationships in the body of Christ. This means fellowship first, ministry second. Meaningful relationships don’t just happen; they are primarily developed through fellowship. In my opinion, putting ministry ahead of fellowship is a serious blunder.

If you missed this conference, try to make it to the one in Joshua, Texas this Fall. The dates are September 20th. - 22nd, 2007. I’ll give more information on it later as soon as I can get it all together.
 
The Prophet’s Perspective
 A Perfect Heart

One of my favorite scriptural verses is 2 Chronicles 16:9: “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.” But when meditating upon this verse the question naturally arises – just what is a “perfect heart”? What criteria does God use to measure us to see if our hearts are perfect toward Him?

One of Job’s friends asked him, “How then can man be righteous before God? Or how can he be pure who is born of a woman? [even] the stars are not pure in His sight, How much less man..., who is a worm?" (Job 25:4-6). We can deduce from this, and similar verses, that God doesn’t use the same “measuring stick” that we would use when evaluating us.

The Bible teaches that God measures us by testing our faith. He said, “My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, That they may dwell with me; He who walks in a perfect way, He shall serve me” (Psalm 101:6). In God’s economy, perfect faith equates to a perfect heart.

God measures three important things in our lives; the temple, the alter and our worship: “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein” (Rev. 11:1). To be acceptable to God, the temple [body] must be holy, the altar [heart] pure and the worshiper’s spirit must have sincere, unfeigned faith. (See 1 Cor. 3:16-17; Matt. 5:23-24; Rom. 1:9; John 4:23; 1 Tim. 1:5; 1 Thes. 5:23). So, what does God look for to see if our hearts are perfect toward Him? He said, “My eyes are upon the faithful in the land.” God measures our faith by our faithfulness (or lack thereof) and rewards us accordingly. I repeat: our faith is measured by how faithful we are in our service and how persistent we are in our walk with Him!

James taught that if our faith wavers we receive nothing from the Lord (see James 1:6-8). Conversely, even if we don’t “feel” like we have faith, if we do not waver in our walk and remain consistent in our service, we will receive the reward we are seeking for (faith is not a feeling – it is a conviction that is founded upon hearing God). True faith is life directing. It motivates us to do righteously even in the face of unjust treatment and adverse circumstances. As Jesus illustrated in His parable of the widow woman and the unjust judge, it pays to be persistent (see Luke 18:1-8).

Sadly, the verse we first quoted, which the prophet addressed to King Asa, does not end on a positive note. It ends with: “Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.” King Asa believed God and harkened to His prophets in the first few years of his reign, so true to His word, God established him and prospered him in his kingdom (see 2 Chron. 20:20). But then Asa’s faith wavered. He made a forbidden covenant with a neighboring king and fell out of favor with God! (2 Chron. 14:1 – 16:13).
 
Helping Hands
 
We’ve received some help toward printing the Spanish versions of The Master’s Voice and The Hidden Power of Covenant but we still need a little more help. We are having 300 of each title printed so the cost is about $500.00 more than the $1600.00 that I originally estimated. I originally planned to have 200 of each title printed but the more we have printed the cheaper the cost per book – so our money is going a lot further by adding the extra 100 books to each order. The Master’s Voice will be delivered later this month and I hope to send The Hidden Power of Covenant to them as soon as I receive The Master’s Voice. As I mentioned last month, these books will be distributed freely throughout Costa Rica and Nicaragua (and possibly, some will go to Mexico).
 
Prayer Partners’ Update
 
May, 2007 will be one year that we’ve taken off to rest, write and wait upon the Lord. He has shown us that we will be doing some limited traveling later this year (starting in June). Please help us pray to discern His will on what invitations we should accept and which ones we should turn down. May the Lord richly bless you for your prayers, and thanks, friends!
 
The Dreamers’ Corner
Specialized Dream Symbols
 
I recently received this letter requesting help with two dream symbols and I felt it would be helpful if I shared my answer with you. It covers one of the basic rules of dream interpretation. Here is the letter and a somewhat edited and expanded copy of my reply: “I have your book, Understanding the Dreams you Dream. I had a dream the other night that involved penguins and sea turtles. I looked in your book and they were not there. I was hoping you could please tell me what they meant.”

My reply: For various reasons, dream symbols mean different things to different people. Also, a symbol's meaning is directly influenced by the context of the dream that it is used in. Since proper application is a necessary part of correct interpretation, whether one is talking about the entire message of a dream or one of its symbols, it is necessary to know something about the dreams content before venturing a specific interpretation. And lastly, some people have preconceived ideas or attitudes toward certain objects, animals, etc., so their attitude influences the way symbols are used in their dreams.

To arrive at the correct meaning, I suggest that you first ask yourself, "What do these creatures mean to me?" If that doesn't give you the answer you are seeking for, perhaps you should take note that both penguins and sea turtles are very specialized creatures and could not survive outside of their normal habitats, and both are more at home at sea than on land. Perhaps this has something to do with their meaning in your dreams. Sweet Dreams!