dyingempty

Three Essential Parts of an Apostolic Song

Sun, 08 Jun 2025 19:15:28 GMT

Three Essential Parts Of An Apostolic Song

In March 2020, because of COVID-19, we were cheated out of our 50th anniversary celebration of the Apostolic Churches of Brazil, founded by our beloved father, Missionary J.B. Lambeth (and his wife, Missionary Louise Lambeth).

So, yesterday, five years late, we decided to celebrate the 55th church anniversary with an unusual “singing” service. We sang almost 300 choruses and songs that we worshipped with across more than five decades!

What we have learned over these many years is that some songs are NOT Apostolic! They do not meet the criteria of worthiness that God deserves to hear from our lips!

So, here are the three measuring sticks that we use BEFORE allowing a song to be sung in our many Brazilian congregations:

> The Name of Jesus - We will not sing a song that does not directly refer to Jesus or God (as we know Him). These modern songs that are merely a repeated loop around three words, “we worship you, we worship you, etc. ad nausea,” without directly referencing who “you” is, must be handled with much care. If the “you” is not clear, then each singer can say in their heart who THEY think “you” is. That is dangerous.

> Bible Basis - ALL of our songs need a strong Bible foundation. Opaque, foggy lyrics that do not exalt Bible concepts (holiness, oneness, love, righteousness, purity, Holy Ghost, etc.) should NOT be part of our song lists. Even the concept of Bible worship needs to be put to words and melody… but never at the expense of trashing everything else.

> Holy Ghost Fueled - When the Holy Ghost “takes over the song, " God becomes the center of our song and worship. Without a powerful infilling of God’s Spirit, we drift too close to the edge of where fame and fashion start!

So, I suggest you cull your list of choruses/hymns down to those songs that fulfill ALL three of the above criteria. They can be fast songs or slow songs… just make sure they are spiritual songs!

Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

BIG Smiles

Sun, 27 Apr 2025 18:16:15 GMT

BIG Smiles

There are telltale signs to look for when a soul truly understands that Jesus Name Baptism is an essential part of the REAL (and ONLY) Bible plan of salvation.

Regretfully, it is much more frequent to see/feel Gospel rejection when a lost soul brushes off the invitation and says, “I understand; now excuse me, I have to go” in a nonchalant way. And many do just that… if for no other reason than to avoid the nuisance of a chattering soul winner. Sometimes, you can even pick up on a micro-level scowl.

However, that law of averages changes dynamically when you see a person come up out of the water after receiving the POWER of sin removal when the Name of Jesus is powerfully proclaimed over the soul as they are WASHED BY THE BLOOD via immersion!

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Pictures That Excite Me

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 17:08:08 GMT

Pictures That Excite Me!

I receive dozens of pictures every month from pastors and congregations near and far away. I have learned over the years that every photo has a story. But not every story has a picture. And sometimes, I get photos without a story. It is those “silent” images that I enjoy most. I love searching for the details that reveal the “rest of the story.”

Today, with your permission, I will share two photos that arrived this last weekend without a storyline. Let’s look together and see if we can pick up a few spiritual details “hid… among the stuff” (I Samuel 10:22).

Picture #1 - A makeshift platform. There is no need to get everything “church-pretty” for a Pentecostal service! Look a little closer. Do you see the kitchen sink behind missionary John-John Lambeth? That means the service is being held inside someone’s KITCHEN! Plus, to the left, you can see their drinking glasses! Also, apparently, they improvised a desk from somewhere to serve as a pulpit! Notice how tight the space seems: the rudimentary keyboard is pushed up against the pulpit (oops, sorry: the desk) just so they have room to squeeze by to get to the pulpit!

Do you see the notebook on top of the keyboard? That means the person who plays does not know how to play by ear. The keyboard player probably needs the notebook to have the right chord note above the song's words. In other words, if the keyboard player does not have the song in his notebook, he won’t be able to play along!

Finally, look at the tiny tablecloth on the desk/pulpit… someone cared enough about the “house church” to put a small touch of love and church beauty. Someone in São Pedro do Sul loves God enough to let the Holy Ghost in their kitchen! Wow!

Picture #2 - Depicts the same service from another angle, from outside in! That means that the kitchen-church was packed, with no room left inside. So, they (apparently) set up some extra chairs outside (it seems to be open-air). Notice that the chairs outside are different from the chairs inside the kitchen. That may mean that some neighbor brought their chairs over to help get everyone seated. Finally, please look at the man seated on the right side of the photo in gray pants and tennis shoes. Look at how he is leaning forward. Notice where he is looking with concentrated attention. He is a prime candidate to get the Holy Ghost! Maybe he did!

 Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

Hydra-Headed

Sun, 30 Mar 2025 18:23:40 GMT

Hydra-Headed.

I learned a new word today: hydra-headed, which means “containing many problems, difficulties or obstacles; having many branches, divisions, facets, etc.”

Hydra-headed is a perfect description of the beast that rose out of the sea, having “seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.” (Revelation 13:1). This multi-headed beast coming up out of the water (again, hydra-headed is a perfect adjective) is not satan himself, but rather one of his off-spring!

In a nutshell, Satan and his imps are multifaceted and well beyond our ability to measure the size of the lair of demons operating out of the pits of hell (although, thankfully, no demon is fully omnipresent or omnipotent!).

What we all must understand is that the battle against the devil and all his wicked structures of demons, dragons, and beasts will be ongoing and never-ending until Jesus Raptures us out of here.

Revelation 13 leads us to understand that even after wounding one of the heads of the sea beast, the evil head is “healed” and “revived.”

That sounds very depressing, especially when our imagination kicks in the heat of the battle. It almost feels like a losing battle!

Be of GOOD CHEER, however! Our Lord Jesus Christ has ALL POWER, especially when we are reminded in the Holy Ghost that no fallen angel (Lucifer>Satan) can compare with the omnipotence of the power of the Blood of Jesus!

So, although the battle against the dragon will continue until we are raptured into heaven, it is NOT lost and NEVER will be!

Please understand: after this current trial you are facing, there will be another attack down the road. However, the victory is ALWAYS assured!

Allow me to map it out for you:

Battle > Victory > Trial > Peace for a season > All-out war against your soul > Divine intervention!

Repeat.

Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

It Is NEVER A Waste Of Time To Correct A Wrong

Sun, 23 Mar 2025 18:45:59 GMT

It is NEVER a Waste of Time to
Correct a Wrong!

(Hillman Frazier - Mississippi State Senator)

There are at least two types of wrong that need to be corrected:
> The wrong you (including me) that has been done to someone else;
> The wrong that others have done to some hurting soul(s), and we (you, I) have the means of helping correct the evil that was done.

Many souls will take to the grave the hurt of the wrong done to them and never corrected. Believe it or not, we all have done wrong to another person at some stage in our short lives. I assure you that we have!

Some of those wrongs may have had a minor impact and were quickly forgotten by both the victim and the perpetrators themselves. Understandable. Yet, there are other issues of wrong and hurt that were swept under the rug of life, that same rug of pretense (“it was of little importance,” “everyone has already forgotten about the matter”). Time DOES NOT erase everything. When living on the victim end of the equation, Sometimes time intensifies the feelings of anguish and injustice! The instigator of the situation is quick to forget (or at least PRETENDS to forget). That is NOT so with the aggrieved person.

Please reread the above paragraph to understand that time DOES NOT erase everything!

So, in that case, it is NEVER too late to correct a wrong! It may be too late to offer restitution (and it may even be too late to ask forgiveness of the injured party… they have already died!). In that case, do as Zacchaeus (Luke 19:8), giving a very special offering to your church outreach project. HOWEVER, if the pain is still alive in some living soul, it becomes an issue of eternity to reach and at least ask for forgiveness with a sincere heart.

Lay your offering on the altar and go make amends with sincere words of repentance (Matthew 5:23-24) quickly, before it is too late.

Finally, even if you are innocent of all evil, be willing to be a peacemaker by helping heal hurting hearts. It is NEVER too late to correct a wrong. If a situation is totally beyond your reach, pray to God, asking HIM to help heal the hurting hearts! Eternity will say thank you! For “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9).

Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

P.S.: Suggested reading: look up the role that Senator Hillman Frazier played regarding Mississippi’s reluctance to approve the 13th amendment of the USA Constitution.

SOUL-FILLS

Sun, 23 Mar 2025 18:45:57 GMT

Soul-fills

This week, I was privileged to attend a Central American Apostolic Missions Retreat in Belize. It was a thrill to connect with fellow apostolic missionaries and feel their contagious excitement as they look forward to 2025 with purpose and mission.

While walking early one morning along the contour of a beautiful Belizean river, I noticed a nearby parcel of land that was almost useless because of the sandy composition of the terrain. To make matters worse, there was a noticeable dip in the lot's middle.

Uneven, unleveled tracts of land often require heavy fill-in dirt and even compacted rock gravel to firm the soil up for construction!

But, if you look carefully at the picture, they use rubber car tires as a fill-in material!

After putting a layer of topsoil over the tires, the plot of land could even look nice. However, tires have no foundational stability! The land owner is deceiving himself (and all future owners should he sell the land!).

Do not deceive yourself! Foundational building of your soul/ministry REQUIRES hard, solid stones! You can use sand (so much cheaper), but in the long term, sand washes away after just a few thunderstorms.

Apostolics who do not have a strong doctrinal foundation will wash out (sell out) to the sands of hip-hip-hooray praise teams and/or the cotton candy preaching of “there is no hell.”

Much like sand, rubber car tires are not biodegradable and have no solidness in their composition.

You need Rock Solid Preaching to be a stable apostolic!

 Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

THIS MAN WAS BORN THERE

Sun, 23 Mar 2025 18:45:55 GMT

This Man Was Born There!

“…behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.” (Psalms 87:4)

Across my long years of missionary ministry, I have heard many incredible stories of soul conversions and body miracles wrought through God’s mercies and grace. Wow, what a Mighty God we serve!

It also amazes me that those same “were it not for Jesus” testimonials are often relegated to an occasional or perhaps once (then never) Thanksgiving Day retelling to a couple of the grandkids. Then, shortly thereafter, the astonishing wonder is relegated to the dusty shelves of bygone miracles of doubtful authenticity!

Miracles and fantastic conversions are designed for repetition and obligatory retelling! There are NO “secret” miracles in God’s playlist of wonder works! Even the seemingly insignificant act of pouring perfume on Jesus’ feet was designed to be REPEATED as a memorial/testimony to the whole world, across ALL generations! Jesus “died” with PERFUMED BLEEDING feet! (See Matthew 26:13)

The following is merely a personal possible interpretation of the above Psalms that speaks of men born in Philisita, Tyre or even Ethiopia(v.4): I would venture to say that those same men were converted and transformed by “rebirth” into Zion (v. 5)! But all the other men from Ethiopia, for example, will NEVER know that the “saint from Zion” is really a walking miracle of God’s Grace UNLESS they are told the whole story of “look at what the Lord has done for me!”

I believe that EVERY miracle NEEDS to be celebrated, memorialized, and eternalized as a testimony to future generations should Jesus delay His return. That means that if your life is a walking chapter of glory unto God’s Power, you owe it to all the rest of us, and especially to all the Ethiopians of the world, to write and publish your testimony to share with all those that are suffering from doubt and disbelief!

If you remain silent about what God has done for you, how can the lost souls of Decapolis have a chance at Salvation? Reread Mark 5, especially verse 20: “And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and ALL MEN DID MARVEL.”

 Start writing! Start proclaiming!

Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

TOO MANY BLESSINGS IS TOO MUCH

Sun, 23 Mar 2025 18:45:54 GMT

Too Many Blessings Is Too Much

Merely one hour from my missionary home, there is a mountainous region renowned all over South America for its quality vineyards and wineries. Which makes for a fantastic micro-region to tour and learn all about the “fruit of the vine.”

Because of various favorable climatic conditions, this year's harvest has been considered the best of the last 20-30 years. There was a massive yield of beautiful clusters of grapes!

However, for the first time in many years, a few of the vineyards suffered an unusual, unexpected disaster: the long runs of horizontal trellising wires (that help keep the canopy of grape branches above the ground), everything; WHOLE top-quality vineyards…

COMPLETELY COLLAPSED UNDER THE EXCESSIVE WEIGHT OF THE PROFUSE NUMBER OF CLUSTERS OF RIPE, FAT GRAPES!

Look closely at the picture above: notice the ruptured concrete columns at the end of each row, see the whole fallen field: ALL the grape vines on the ground (which means that the beautiful clusters were crushed on ground—a massive loss of a beautiful harvest.

The bountiful harvest was MORE than the master of the vineyard expected. Maybe he decided to delay a few days to “increase” his profits. Nevertheless, too many blessings are too much!

We all want massive revivals…but can we handle a vast revival? The pentecostal number game demands numbers better (bigger!) than the archrival church across town.

Don’t be so demanding of the Holy Ghost; stop pressuring for massive results! Don’t pressure God for something you are not spiritually equipped to handle! Like money, too much of riches may cause that person to backslide!

If you are praying for revival (and you should!), ask God to send the souls in a MEASURED flow you and your congregation can handle and establish in Truth! If your congregation is not ready, a FLOODS of souls will overwhelm you and your church in a way that once the outpouring is over, nothing will be left except for spiritual mud and grim of half-repent souls that have already left your fold without fulfilling the plan of salvation (which includes righteous living).

Dear God, Give me enough to desire more, but not too much more. I do not want to succumb to the killing pain of frustration that eventually misaligns my ministerial calling.

 Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

BROKEN SILVER VESSELS

Sun, 23 Mar 2025 18:06:48 GMT

Broken Silver Vessels

While some pots are “common”, of ordinary usage, other vessels were designed and intended for glorified purposes.

There is grandeur folded into all sectors and levels of God’s Church, including the Apostolic lay ministry! I am amazed by the extremely high degree of spiritual engagement manifested by the persons (men and women) who perform duties in the House of the Lord at the Levite level.

Yet, all of the above accolades can come to naught by two “invisible” defects: Burning lips and/or a wicked heart: “Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross.” (Proverbs 26:23)

Gossipers are a deadly poison in an Apostolic Church, especially if the evil lips belong to an active saint or a “saintly” mother or, God forbid, a lay leader! Surely your lips are not evil, are they? As the WW2 saying goes, “loose lips sink ships.”

Worse than that, however, is a wicked heart: Evil secret agents whose purpose is to destroy the pastor's and congregation's vision and divine objectives. Such evilness is extremely hard to discern and uncover because, often, such perpetrators perform their sly deeds behind a smiling face and seemingly sincere actions.

The almost inevitable result of burning lips and wicked hearts are “beautiful” BROKEN VESSELS. Once beautiful, their hidden defects cause the Master to dash them to the ground in holy rejection. They become warped shreds, clay fragments of once glorious Holy Ghost receptacles (“spirit-pots”) scattered all over the floor of God’s Temple.

If you look closely enough, you will see that those rejected fragments are covered with beautiful silver, which, long ago, testified of their beautiful talents of calling and anointing in God’s House.

We don’t want the floor of our congregations covered with shining slivers of silver left over from begone vessels.

Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

S.O.S (Sensitivity Of Spirit)

Sun, 23 Mar 2025 18:04:59 GMT

S.O.S (Sensitivity Of Spirit)

Satan is a very slimy snake that pushes spiritual (and physical) insensitivity to destroy the spiritual yearning issuing from the heart of a desperate sinner. It is a horrible sight to witness the devil pressing down on his victims with a heavy fog of sinful dependence. So sad!

Recently, I received a photo of a visitor praying at the altar of one of our outreach congregations (planted deep in the heart of the “crack-land sector” inside a witch/coven village.) Out of kindness, I blurred the face of this sad young man.

The first thing to notice is the Batman tee shirt, as if Batman is his protector and can heal his insane addiction to crack. It is ridiculous to think that some ordinary man, hiding behind a silly mask of a bat, can do anything to save “billy” from hell!

On a side note: ANYONE that wears a mask is dangerous to the soul! A masquerade is a gathering of people in disguise under false pretenses. When you see someone hiding behind a mask, especially on social media. BEWARE of the Batman monsters around you!

Back to “billy”. Our “billy” is severely addicted to crack, which requires the continual use of a lighter to burn little crack rocks in his makeshift pipe (bong). Enlarge the above picture. Now, focus on his fingers. Look real close at his fingers. Because of the lighter flames, you will notice that his fingertips are burnt and severely scarred. He is so scarred that even his fingerprints are forever burnt off! His crack addiction stole his identity (fingerprints) and ALSO his sensitivity (his fingers feel NOTHING)!

“Billy” does not know how to pray, and he may not even understand the concept of an Almighty God! Is he “saveable”? Yes, he is! The chances of that happening, however, are very low: “billy” has lost all spiritual sensitivity and is now TOTALLY dependent on someone (anyone!) that is SOS (sensitive of Spirit)!

The other night, at the same outreach congregation, another “billy” (#2) showed up for church. He feeds his drug addiction as an armed bandit, robbing small stores and old women. He also shacks up with the mother of his little daughter. They had no food to eat, and he decided to rob someone for a bit of money for drugs and food (in that order). As he walked out the door, his little girl grabbed his leg and started singing a church song (!). She would not let go. While she was tugging, holding, and singing, one of the apostolic workers walked up to their shack with a small bag of groceries… RIGHT ON TIME. That is what I call SOS (sensitivity of Spirit). He was at church last night.

Will “billy #2” make it? I don’t know, but at least the SOS of a praying worker touched him at the right time!

Be SOS!

Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

SING MY SONG FOR ME!

Sun, 23 Mar 2025 17:40:04 GMT

TITLE: Sing My Song For Me!

I'm getting older now. My bones are getting brittle, and my breath is getting shorter. But I have lived a long life, almost 50 years of active ministry.

Throughout this long journey, there has been plenty of emotional pain, shame, and even a significant number of defeats.

Yet, simultaneously, I have experienced an exhilarating joy in serving God every day!

The thrill of feeling close to God, savoring His love, and feeling His hands holding me as He cuddled me in His lap is indescribable.

Now, as I near the end of my life, much like David, it's time to let my life become a song to be sung. It's time to put all these feelings into verse. Maybe singing my psalm will give reason to the rhythm of my life.

I may write the verses of my life song, but according to Psalms 102:18, who shall sing my song is not me! It is those that come after me—the next generation. They are the ones who will sing my song. Today’s apostolic youth are the ones who will find the reason for the seasons of the rhythms of my ministry. They will understand and embrace for themselves what they have learned from my life and my living.

So, like we all still sing David’s songs, please sing my song too! Sing it with gusto!! Harmonize it as well as you can. Don't delete the low groaning bass notes of the hurts of my trials, but also let the incredible joy (Wow!!!) of serving the Lord across my years on this earth ring out with crescendo music and a climax shout! Sing my song of unwavering faith!

Please, please, sing my song so that the next generation will know that my life was not lived in vain!

Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

Arrogance Beyond Insubmission

Sun, 26 Jan 2025 20:01:00 GMT

Arrogance Beyond Insubmission

Submission is a very “loose” word of multiple interpretations. So much so that each person answers according to their predetermined level of submission. And, often, the level of submission is not based on a genuine spirit of servanthood but instead imposed by a “power structure” of a “do it or pay the consequences” setup.

Regretfully, many live to see their world turned upside down and even destroyed… because they refuse to submit to a wiser voice of leadership.

While 99% of the population obeys by imposition, others make a soul choice to submit. Such submissive souls are ALWAYS ushered into a world of daily blessings and heavenly peace!

Submission is a choice! A wise choice.

Contrary to the captain’s opinion, Paul warned Julius, the centurion, that the boat they were on would sink! But Julies emphasized the captain’s “professional” opinion over Paul’s prophetic warning.

The boat sank after 14 days of blinding rains and pounding hurricane winds!

When we become too important and know-it-all, the boat will sink!

Precisely the same thing happened last Sunday in the ritzy tourist town of Gramado, Brazil. Mr. “Rich” Chairman decided to show off his pilot skills after vacationing with his whole family! All ten family members took one final selfie before boarding. He did not seem to worry about the almost zero visibility (fog can be very treacherously misleading). Since the runway did not have an active control tower and because there was no VOICE OF AUTHORITY, he DECIDED on his own to fly anyway!

He could have called into the nearby weather station. But did not!

Again, at the end of the day, when refusing submission, each person answers for their own decisions. Life is much better when there is a loving voice of caution to be heard (if the person is humble enough to seek wisdom).

Was Mr. Rich Chairman qualified to fly a twin-engine Piper plane? Probably not! Was Mr. “Know-it-all” instrument rated? I doubt it! But even if both questions were answered in the affirmative, the airstrip did not have ILS equipment (required to take off in light fog). He was foolish! He had no authority to sign off on his flight plan. Nor, apparently, did he want a qualified overseer!

At 9:13 AM, he stupidly lifted off with the fog down to windshield level! At 9:15 AM, he crashed his lovely Piper Cheyenne Plane into the side of a hotel, just two miles from where he spent the night with his wife, children, and other family members.

They all died instantly.

This often happens when a person is too arrogant to accept (submit to) wise guiding counsel. Not only does such imprudence destroy Mr. Know-it-all, but the consequences of his ill-advised actions also decimated ALL of his family.

There are NO heirs left to continue forward his legacy.

Let the five (arrogant) foolish virgins say, “Amen!”

Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

Incredibly Incredulous

Tue, 14 Jan 2025 20:09:41 GMT

Incredibly Incredulous

The two title words of this article may seem, in a way, to cancel each other out. Incredibly refers to something that surpasses believability; incredulous means “ unbelievable” (in the negative sense). So, this text is about how unbelief has penetrated our sordid world amazingly far.

This is regretful because incredible faith is so exciting! It is even more fantastic to seek incredible vision!

But to be is a toxic brew that becomes vile poison to the soul!

Incredulousness is a poison because we live in a world where unbelief prevails all around us! It's becoming harder, much harder, to overcome the pervasive skepticism, even the reprobate mindset, that has raised its ugly head against anything divine or spiritual.

Please notice how incredible faith and incredible incredulousness can intersect around the same event!

In Mark 4:38 (Luke 8:24), we find the disciples sinking in a boat in the middle of a massive storm! Jesus was asleep, oblivious to all worries as only God can be! The disciples cried out to Jesus as the miraculous God he was. Yet, the implied tone of their screaming words also denounced their incredulousness! What a horrible blend of: “We are all dying!” mixed with “Do something powerful!”.

Jesus even rebuked their fearful faithlessness.

As we journey through life, living in time prophesied by the Bible, one wonders: will the Son of Man find faith when he returns (Luke 18:8)? It almost sounds as if even God Himself marvels at how low human faith can plummet (has) before His return.

We apostolics cannot (MUST NOT) get entangled in the labor of merely surviving, barely living, bewildered by the chaos around us.

Yet, undeniably, we are all somewhat affected by it, but when some of us become infected, seeds of profound unbelief bubble to the surface!

Do I believe in incredible miracles? Yes!!!! However, I am sure we all probably agree that in today's world, constant and miraculous wonders are much harder to achieve by faith.

I am trying to clarify: We live in incredible (unusual) times! To paraphrase Charles Dickens, these are the best of times, and these are the worst of times.

Just don’t let your faith waver! Be a faith-FULL Apostolic! We may not see miracles daily, but we still reside in a world under God’s complete control!

Even if miracles were abundant, would it change our level of faith? Or would we constantly be demanding more signs—Show me again; show me something else? God WILL NOT “fight” against your incredulousness by continually trying to shore us up with more astonishing signs and wonders!

We live in an era when even absolute miracles do little to bolster the belief of unbelievers. Therefore, we must adjust our faith and focus it on God's overarching work. God orchestrates events according to His plan—not to cater to our need for reassurance but to fulfill His perfect design. He seeks a visionary church that trusts in Him, not one mired in incredulity.

Our faith must be rooted in God's plan, not dependent exclusively on visual signs. The Bible says some look for a sign, but no sign will be given. When the rich man wanted Lazarus to warn his brothers, Abraham replied that they already had the prophets. The greatest miracle is the anointed, preached of God. This anointing eradicates unbelief and fosters incredible faith—not incredible skepticism.

 Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

EXTREME FAITH

Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:56:50 GMT

EXTREME FAITH

Whether you are a “Christmas” person or not, or whether you believe that God was manifest in the flesh during December or April… that is immaterial.

The undeniable truth is you must have a full measure of faith to believe in God (“…must believe that he is” - Hebrews 11:6) AND that God became flesh! But it requires an extra measure of faith (extreme?) to believe that God became “visible” in a tiny baby's body.

Could God have “clothed” Himself using an instantly created body of an adult man? Certainly! Nothing is impossible for God to perform! And I could be wrong, but I believe there is more to the God “baby” body than we fully understand.

After all, except Mary, no one else was in her room when the angel appeared unto her! No one saw the prophetic angel!

So, for the wise men and the Shepherds to proclaim a tiny baby as God in the flesh, an extra measure of faith was required! That is why the wise men were blessed with unique Old Testament revelation to follow the star and why the Shepherds heard a celestial song of proclamation! More than that, the angel even told the keepers of the flock that the baby would be found in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Sometimes, “regular” faith needs to be expanded into zones of extreme faith through signs and wonders designed to “push” us into a world of special revelation!

So, I write to encourage all of us (including myself) to use this day today and the rest of this year (and beyond) to look for unique signs and wonders that prove God is still reining over all the earth. What God is doing in our midst right now is immeasurably more fantastic than anything we can imagine! Let’s get excited about what God is ALREADY doing around the world!

May God prepare us for the unimaginable!

Happy Holidays to all, including our Dying Empty readers!

Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

FORTY LONG YEARS

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:52:18 GMT

FORTY LONG YEARS

Obviously, it is very hard to understand God (impossible!) fully. Don’t even go there!

For example, Isaiah, chapter 40, speaks of how God weighs and measures earthly things: negligibly and insignificant! While we count coins to make a dollar and worry about “dust” on the weighing scales, God does not even notice such minuscule matters. On the contrary, God’s abundance is beyond understanding! See verse 15. Even transferring the islands from one sea to another ocean is meaningless on His scale of Power and Mightiness!

We must learn to ditch our miser Scrooge mentality and jump into God’s “bread and bread with abundance” world of “insignificant” (limitless) blessings! Again, I repeat: God does not measure earthly things as we do… if He did, He would not be God!

On the other hand, there is a side to God’s divinity that DOES seem to take on an earthly component:

LONG years of waiting (read Psalms 95:10 word by word!)

Psalms 95:10, 11 speaks of God “burning” (my word) in wrath for forty LONG years over Israel’s sins while they were trodding in the desert sands. When we hurt someone’s feelings, we humans excuse ourselves WITHOUT ASKING FOR FORGIVENESS by saying, “They’ll get over it.”

One would think that God would “instantly” forget our indiscretions and sins, quickly (instantly!) moving on to unlimited blessings in our lives.

Not so!

God’s patience is VERY SHORT (40 years is a drop in the bucket if compared to eternity) when our continued, insistent sins provoke God’s wrath! While we think that God “forgot” our “in his face” rebellion, God does NOT forget! God uses time differently than He measures blessings!

So, like King Agag, one may think that “the bitterness of death is past.” (I Samuel 15:32), that is NOT so! The ONLY way you can “cancel” God’s wrath is by true repentance and an engaged endeavor of “sinning no more” (John 8:11).

God may delay punishment, but the degree of God’s wrath grows and accelerates with the passing of each year of unrepentant sin… as the years grow LONGER, God’s wrath grows more intense.

Don’t go there!

Seek forgiveness for sins you may barely remember! God only “forgets” sins covered with the Blood of the Cross (true repentance!).

 Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

Soul Pointers

Mon, 09 Dec 2024 19:46:12 GMT

Soul Pointers

It amazes me how church titles excite the fantasy imagination of some church people, especially vogue ministerial titles (youth pastor, minister of worship, board deacon, ad nauseam).

Biblically, most modern church job titles do not exist. And those that do (exist) require special anointing by an elder.

University degree abbreviations alone (DEd, PhD, BA, Ddiv, LLD, etc.) are empty letters of the alphabet without authentic contributions in their field of expertise! Letters and titles are the ego cocaine of those who pretend to be something they are not!

You don’t need titles; you need Apostolic results that add value to the Kingdom of God.

I find it very interesting that Philip, the disciple, was better known for his “pointing to Jesus” evangelism efforts than for his later role as a discrete apostle. When he heard the plea “Sir, we would see Jesus”… he promptly POINTED them to Jesus (John 12:20-23). The opportunity he acted on does not play out like a PhD mission, nor did he “invent” a snazzy title for himself; instead, he did his part to connect the Greeks to Jesus!

This article was inspired by a Brazilian soul winner called Antonio. He barely knows how to write his name and can only read very simple sentences, but he is a tremendous “outreacher” (a noun I just invented). The other day, he said, “I am like a hunting (pointer) dog that finds and brings hungry souls for the pastor to preach to.” He said, “I don’t know how to clean, prepare, or cook hungry souls; all I know is how to flush them out of their hell hole and get them to church. The pastor does all the rest.”

We need more pointer soul finders than we need pseudo-pastors!

Don’t try to climb above your level of relevance unless called upward by your covering pastor! Titles are useless without apostolic results!

 Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

Harpers Harping Harps!

Sun, 01 Dec 2024 19:37:03 GMT

Harpers Harping Harps!

Many of us aspire to be someone GREAT in the Kingdom of God. And that is not a sin, rather even perhaps a requirement. After all, who does not want to do more for God?!?

However, the most significant spiritual driving force we all should pursue, above being greater, is being the best we can be with what we have in our hands!

If you seek to do your best at what you are doing, that makes you extremely useful in the Kingdom, maybe even the best in that area of Apostolic service!

Always longing, always looking over the fence of your limitations is not the best way to live your life unto the Lord! When you do that, you are nullifying the importance of your relevance in God’s Kingdom! Relevance means being prepared and ready! More than that, relevance means always being at the right place and at the right time! Show up! Be prepared to spring into action on a moment’s notice!

The book of Revelation, chapter 14, speaks of a group of harpers harping harps! Amazing! Obviously, these harpers were qualified! Not only were they skilled, but they also were present with their harps in hand (none of this saying, “I didn’t know that I was going to play tonight”).

They knew what they were there to do! They knew the song to be played. And even if they did not know what the song was to be, they were still practiced enough to play ANY song requested!

Finally, they were at the right place (in front of the Throne). None of this asking, “We need another harper; where is Billy at?” And they were present at the right time (harpers NEVER arrive late to church; they are always early, tuned up, and ready!).

So, even though we usually do not see harping as a glamorous business in God’s Kingdom, harping is IMPORTANT!

Harp your harp until God upgrades you to conduct a symphony of harps!

Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

Unashamedness

Mon, 25 Nov 2024 19:31:49 GMT

Unashamedness

As often happens when I am on an international flight, I saw an Orthodox Jew onboard preparing to proclaim his morning prayers.

Unlike many other “religious disciples,” there was no secrecy about him!

Nowadays, even a good number of Brazilian devil worshippers will “hide” their animal sacrifices inside a large plain grocery bag on a moonless night to avoid detection and identification as a Satanist.

Not this fellow traveler. His deliberate preparation did not hide his spiritual bloodline as a Jew!

It takes a Jew (probably) about ten or more minutes to prepare for the prayers he is about to offer Jehovah:

- He covers his head with a unique skull cap called a kippah
- He placed a special black box on the upper part of his forehead, which contains portions of the Holy Writ (called head tefillin)
- He wrapped a leather band around his shoulder and right arm down to his middle finger. This band holds another box in place (shoulder tefillin)
- He enclosed his body with a unique prayer shawl, which is carefully removed from his prayer case and dressed on with a deep sense of holiness (tallith shawl)
- He held the Torah (his bible) in his right hand and read aloud selected portions

THEN, after all of the above, he began to pray in a quiet, audible voice as his body swayed and moved according to what he was feeling in his soul.

Everyone around me was looking at the ritual he was performing without ANY shame whatsoever on his part!

What is your “shame level” regarding your apostolic faith?

Do you “hide” your holiness by dressing down, as close to non-apostolic as possible? (There is no such thing as internal holiness without an external manifestation of that holiness!)

Do you pretend to “not remember” the address of your apostolic house of worship? Are you mum about your fellowship of believers? (In reality, no one even knows you as a Jesus Name believer!). Shame on you!

When others scorn “holy rollers,” do you pretend not to care, or worse, do you join in on the ridiculing fun as if you are one of the perverse gang?

If one of the three above examples is your case, be careful: your level of apostolic embarrassment is high!

If all three examples apply to you, then one day soon, God will “laugh at your calamity” (Pr. 1:26). You are either apostolic, or you are not! There is no middle ground for shame-full apostolic believers!

At the end of the day, if you don’t stand tall as an apostolic, you will be destroyed by the devil (who sees you as weak and spiritually anemic) and by God also, who tags you as a two-faced hypocrite!

Show the world that you are apostolic! Pull out that Bible from the bottom drawer! Please put it on your desk! Invite EVERYONE to come to church with you! Then, when you get there, astonish your visitor by the intensity of your worship unto God!

Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

Pot, Kettle Black

Mon, 11 Nov 2024 19:20:19 GMT

Pot, Kettle Black

Many of us justify our sins by comparing ourselves with other sinners who, in our eyes, are worse than ourselves.

Those looking from the outside explain this phenomenon by saying, “That is like the pot calling the kettle black!” In the end, BOTH the pot AND the kettle are black with soot! Soot is soot; sin is sin… no matter to what degree!

The illusion of “I am better than…” comes from using the wrong measuring stick to plot one’s progress on a flawed matrix graphic. Put another way, pots tend to compare by looking DOWN on the kettle. Meanwhile, the kettle is also looking DOWN to compare itself to the chamber pot at the bottom of the totem pole!

It is interesting to note that only very sincere souls are brave enough to look up! We all must learn the powerful secret of “Looking (up) unto Jesus…” (Hebrews 12:2).

The poster boy of the “Pot, Kettle Black” syndrome is the Pharisee in Luke 18:11 who PRAYED and told God: “I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.” It was as if God was doing him a favor by allowing him to be “better” than all of those underneath his feet!

When a person starts using the measuring stick of “At least I am not like…” they are just as “bad” as the person to whom they compare themselves! Just because “billy” did not physically have an adulterous affair with another person does not whitewash the virtual pornography that the “holier than thou” “joe” is watching! (Note: “billy” and “joe” are fictitious names, nothing more than that).

The “at least I am not like…” attitude has an identical twin brother called “I am holier than thou…” which is exemplified in Matthew 7 when “billy” rebukes “joe” saying, “You are a sinner; you have a mote in your eye" while all the time “joe” has an enormous beam that is blinding him to his vast sins.

Don’t go there! Don’t measure life in the wrong direction. If someone compares themselves downwards, that person will ALWAYS be “better”! When a soul measures the distance upwards, that soul will always discover there is still a long way to go to reach soul perfection!

While some sins are harder to redeem than others, sin is still sin. However, the power of the Blood of Jesus is absolute and unlimited UNLESS a person refuses to confess that they are a sinner or if they run off the rails into open rebellion against the Holy Ghost.

NEVER compare yourself to others! Use your Bible as a ruler to measure UP to Jesus!

 Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

Never Kiss Your Own Hand!

Mon, 04 Nov 2024 19:14:39 GMT

Never Kiss Your Own Hand!

Job 31:27: “…or my mouth hath kissed my hand.”

Self-pride, especially secret self-pride, is hugely detrimental to one’s soul!

Many sins are a result of a sudden temptation. Other sins are not so “secret” (undercover) sins. These two types of sins are somewhat easier to rebuke and take authority over.

However, there are some (not many) sins that are hard to identify directly and, even then, much harder to unroot! Self-pride is one of those deep-rooted sins!

Self-pride is found in the hearts of those who kiss their own hand! As if to congratulate themselves for their own accomplishments! Nothing is wrong with feeling some pleasure in a job well done. But quiet pleasure can quickly degrade into self-pride if the well-done job does not receive the expected “sufficient” accolades and public applause. With time, and after many episodes of supposed lack of recognition, self-pride takes root!

The bottom line is that a person kisses what they adore! And when a person “kisses” their hand, something is wrong! Bad wrong! They are equating themselves to “Kings” … SELF-KINGS! (Despite what others may think, I KNOW I am THE BEST!)

Perhaps what is even worse than kissing your own hand is using a kiss to fake love!

I see Judas’s kiss on Jesus’s cheek in the dark garden of Gethsemane as an ultimate betrayal of faithful love! The fake kiss of a “friend” burns like acid all the way down to the pits of hell! (Luke 22:48/Mt. 26:50).

Self-pride is a “creeping” type of sin. In other words, it quietly infiltrates the soul. Sadly, when finally detected, it is already deeply rooted.

The antidote for self-pride is extreme and continual humbleness!

Never kiss your own hand!

Have the courage to rebuke yourself if you ever want to kiss your hand!

Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

Always Center, Never at Center

Mon, 28 Oct 2024 19:04:17 GMT

Always Center, Never at Center

Isaiah 40:22: “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.”

God is so huge that the volume of His size does not even exist! Unlimited volume!

Yet, somewhere in the vast infinity of that universal volume, there is a CENTER where everything revolves around HIM, the Almighty God. God is the CENTER of all gravity and any other (yet) unknown force not yet discovered or revealed. Much like the winds of a hurricane encircle the eye of the storm, God is the CENTER of EVERYTHING!

So, we are in a quandary: if we never will ever reach the CENTER of God’s very CENTER, then where does that leave us? On the edge of God?

Yes, we are only at the edge of God. Yet, because of God’s unfathomable essence, we are also at the CENTER of God, even though we are on the edge!

Sometimes, we can become very frustrated with God, who SEEMS to be far away. But he is NOT far away (although His CENTER is beyond “x” number of billions of light years!). So, don’t let your frustration blind you to the assurance that He is standing right next to you RIGHT NOW!

This extremely powerful concept can be found in an unusual place in the Bible: There was a Greek woman (Syrophenician by nation) who came to Jesus for her daughter’s healing. Jesus refused her request UNTIL she revealed her understanding that a bread CRUMB contains ALL the essence of healing even though the CRUMB is minuscule compared to the whole loaf! (Mark 7:25-29). When you understand that God is touchable right now, powerful healing will perform His will in your life.

It does not matter where you are located “inside” God’s presence (which is everywhere). Just know that you are in God’s circle of total power at your present precise location! In other words, God’s CENTER is everywhere! Not over there… He is right where you are at right now! Believe it! He can hear you right now even though he is always center even when we know he is CENTER everywhere else!

This article is very unpolished of poor English construction. Maybe that is what you need: some plain, commanding words!

My grammar corrector will try to “clean” this article up, removing all the repetitive words… but I refuse to allow that. If God’s greatness is beyond comprehension, then I certainly will not allow a computer program to cheat us out of this incredible revelation.

Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
JBLambeth@gmail.com

In My Right Mind

Mon, 14 Oct 2024 18:51:49 GMT

In My Right Mind

Last week, I wrote about my dear mother. The loving feedback that many of you forwarded to me tremendously touched me. Thank you.

As I read your words, I was reminded of an article I wrote about 14 years ago. I felt it appropriate to resend it.

Enjoy: Writing from a Right Mind (edited for clarity)

Although both of my pioneer missionary parents today rest in peace, awaiting their reward in eternity; neither of them regretfully departed without suffering.

I watched my father die a thousand deaths: the dozens of strokes were merciless. Finally, one day, even his resounding voice was at last silenced. You know what I mean if you ever heard him narrate a missionary slide presentation. His anointed voice was gone, forever!

All the while, my precious mother continued caring for Dad, yet she sensed she was falling into the void of a disease called Alzheimer's. She KNEW!

So, how can I forget the day Mother urgently summoned me to Dad´s hospital room? As I walked in and saw all was well, my questioning face turned to her. She answered my look and said: “Brad, today I am still in my right mind. I just wanted you to know that I love you.” Knowing that blank look of emptiness was not far away, we kissed and hugged. Precious

Memories!

As we approach the beginning of yet another prophetic year, I suddenly realize that I may not be far from the same diseases that damaged my parents. Yet today, this day, I am still in my right mind… thus I write: Because one day I may lose my right mind (hopefully not), I write the following statements as a public record, declaring to all that know me that:

I believe there is only one way to be saved, as summarized in the book of Acts, especially as enunciated in Acts 2:38. The Bible is plain concerning this matter. I declare this from my right mind. Should I “lose” my grip on salvation doctrine to seek fame and fortune…, PLEASE DO NOT FOLLOW ME DOWN TO THE HELL THAT WILL BE AWAITING ME!
I believe in Holiness inside the soul and also manifested in the body;
I have preached thousands of sermons that attest to my Apostolic sanity. Please use them as a testimony against me should I lose my RIGHT spiritual mind.

Should, however, mental or physical issues destroy my mind, please intern me where I will not hinder the progress of God’s Kingdom as I fade into a twilight zone. If someday I can no longer proclaim my love for Jesus… please say it for me. I would appreciate that! I write today because I am still in my right mind.

Brad Lambeth
dyingempty.net
jblambeth@gmail.com

Missionaria Luiza

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 18:41:49 GMT

Missionaria Luiza

Her real name was Wanda Louise Lambeth. My precious mother would have been 93 yesterday. Blessed memories.

She could not sing a lick, and her musical talents were below zero. That bothered her a lot because, in her mind, all missionaries need to sing and play.

After a long silence of pondering, she would ask me, “Brad, what did God see in me that would qualify me as a missionary?” She would then cry quietly, asking God to forgive her tone-deafness.

I can answer her question! Her greatest gift to Brazil was found in prayer and witnessing!

She always started her day at 4:00 AM with prayer in the living room. Then, after that, she was walking the streets or riding a bus going to a new village to witness to others about Jesus!

Plus, she was used tremendously with the gifts and prophesied of many events far into the future. If you sing and play, God be praised! But at the end of the day, if you don’t know how to pray, you may never win a soul because your soul-vessel is empty.

Prayer fills you up with boldness to witness and enables the Holy Ghost in you to rebuke the chains of terrifying sin!

Missionaria Luiza, we miss you… but your prayers live on! The hundreds of souls across Brazil that you won for Jesus still sing the songs you so wanted to sing!

Your prayers tuned their voices to sing your songs for you!

Brad Lambeth
dyingEmpty.net
jblambeth@gmail.com

News From The Field

Sun, 17 Mar 2024 22:47:08 GMT

News From The Field

I just returned from the Country of Belize, where I helped organize a special retreat for apostolic Central America missionaries and their families.

I have done many exciting things across my 48 years as a missionary to Brazil, but last week’s retreat was undoubtedly an exceptional highlight for Nara and me.

Our three days together were intense: we all prayed, learned, and enjoyed “downtime” together!

As the “oldest” active missionary present, I was able to “empty out” by sharing what I have learned while working the foreign harvest fields after almost 50 years of labor. Missionary Tommy Bracken was also very transparent with the group about his missionary experience.

Concerning the challenges that Central American missionaries are facing, I picked up on several crucial insights:

The monthly cost of missionary work has increased tremendously over the last few years. For one reason, as their missionary vision expands (their outreach vision is SO exciting and even contagious!), the costs of expanding ALSO INCREASE. In other words, the monthly fuel expenses: car(s) maintenance, rental fees, sound systems, pews/chairs, signs, tracts, etc… NEVER cease and ALWAYS tend to expand as the overall mission project grows! Not to mention that each missionary, without exception, mentioned that they are sacrificing their personal family budget to fast track the growth of their field of labor. Please don’t forget that inflation and negative exchange rates also affect the overall financial structure!

Now for my personal experience/insights:

USA partners and supporters have ALWAYS been VERY GENEROUS when investing in special projects (new buildings, etc.). Thank you! So, at this time, that is not the problem. However, it is essential to know that your MONTHLY missionary support is just as important! Maybe even more needed, depending on the challenges they face in their labor field! So PLEASE continue helping them regularly EVERY month! Thank you!

The missionaries at the retreat showed a fantastic willingness to work their hearts out as God’s missionaries, representing YOU on the foreign field to which YOU helped send them. As their supporter(s), YOU are saying that you TRUST and BELIEVE in their anointing and specialized ministry. There are so very many who do not fully understand the ministry of a missionary. Others don’t understand the many moving parts that make a man/wife become a qualified missionary. For example, I feel I am fully qualified as a missionary to Brazil. But, for me to become a missionary to the country of French Guiana (which shares a border with the north part of Brazil), I would have to completely “retool” my calling by learning a new language (French), a new culture (based on a European model) and even a new financial structure (eurodollars). So, every qualified missionary is a unique and anointed man/wife prepared for the field of their calling. They each need your TRUST and CONFIDENCE in their missionary wisdom. Even when they make a mistake in strategy, please be flexible and understanding. That is the only way they can become “veterans.” They are the “boots on the ground” for that country. Please give them the delegated authority they deserve while they represent your church and partnership.

It is of great assistance when you help introduce missionaries to other preachers/pastors who have missions in their hearts. It is so hard to “cold call” a new potential supporter. By doing this, you will help alleviate the above two points.

For self-explanatory reasons, I have a tremendous love for missionaries worldwide. And I place myself at your service to answer any questions you might have concerning the many challenges that missionaries face worldwide. Please feel free to write or call me (jblambeth@gmail.com / 1-352-895-0046).

My love for missions is why I started the subscription Dying Empty Newsletter project. I write articles directed to the apostolic ministry concerning current challenges and other apostolic insights twice a week.

Check it out: dyingempty.net (all proceeds go to missions).

Brad Lambeth

New Year, New Past!

Mon, 01 Jan 2024 19:52:25 GMT

New Year, New Past!

Today is the first day of the rest of our lives, which we tend to measure by segments of 365 days per cycle. While January 1st is like any other day, we tend to use it as a launching point for new goals and a renewed vision!

Sometimes that is very hard to do because we also tend to measure our future by the past year (or even lifetime). And if the last 365 days were horrible, then it is very difficult to push into victory in just the 24 hours of January 1st.

So I wish all our readers a Happy New Year! Maybe today, once and for all, you will be able to recycle the events of 2023 as a learning/growing experience to be used for new and profound experiences during 2024!

That will only be possible if we incorporate (or enhance) our base structure using personal discipline, starting TODAY! For example, a sporadic prayer life will create the same emptiness as our yesterdays. The lack of ministerial focus will only construct sand churches (without solid rock foundations).

So, just for today, commit yourself to do three important things that you will repeat tomorrow and beyond. Pray for 30 minutes TODAY (and commit yourself to do it tomorrow again). Pledge an hour a day toward soul-winning. Etc. (It won’t hurt to fast once a week on a set day without ever justifying an excuse to not fast).

In other words, the past will always condemn you if you don’t use last year as a launching point for the NEW you (year).

I have tried to share my prayers and support my friends in pain… I am here ready for another year. I have also started a new newsletter that I am writing twice a week (using a subscription model so as not to bother those that are not interested): www.dyingempty.net You may already be receiving the newsletters and if that is the case, Thank You!. Check it out when you have the time. I hope that the articles will be a blessing to others. You can visit the website to subscribe or click the link below. Thanks for your continued support of Apostolic missions!

Brad Lambeth

dyingempty.net
jblambeth@gmail.com

Dark Christmas Eve

Sun, 24 Dec 2023 20:13:25 GMT

Dark Christmas Eve

Christmas has always been promoted as a very MERRY day of the year. And, truly, baby Jesus was the first physical sign that God became flesh to shed PURE blood over our horrible sins at the cross three decades later.

Yet, the spiritual and political dynamic of the night before the birth of Jesus was incredibly tense! I suggest you read Revelation 12 for some extra insights.

We know that Mary and Joseph were reassured by angelic visitations that they both were in God’s perfect will. Especially Mary was firm and immovable in her commitment to fulfill the whole plan.

However, please do not forget that Mary’s “Baby Jesus” mission was NOT fully mapped out in minute detail.

Even with strong faith, we all must be very careful not to let extreme worries and huge negative shifts destroy God’s mission in our lives. We all have a calling/mission that burns in our hearts (me too!). Yet, it is sometimes easy to be overwhelmed by unexpected events that seem to be designed to derail our calling!

In Mary and Joseph’s case, I see at least two or three potential ultra-tests of their faith:

> The lack of decent shelter for the young couple must have been nerve-racking! After all, we see so many other times in the Bible where God provided the missing parts to fulfill the mission (e.g.: the ram to replace Isaac at Abraham’s altar). Yet, they could not even find a Motel 6 room available! Even right now, I feel that I am in God’s perfect will, yet… there are major parts that are missing! It takes super faith to be barely alive in a stormy sea without a life vest… I mean, I can try to survive the storm without drowning … but a life jacket certainly would help (where are you, God?)

> The Wise men’s visit to Herod’s palace triggered off a massive androcide (new word for me: the mass murder of boys/men) attack against all baby boys in the Bethlehem region. That type of horrible news spreads like wildfire (even without digital social media!). Mary’s boy was in DANGER of a mass murderer. Her Baby Jesus was the MAIN target! Yes, I know: Jesus will always come through (ALWAYS! God never fails!). However, the screams of other mothers watching the murder of their sons on the same street would have to be excruciating … almost to the level of a panic attack!

> Money… if Mary did not have money for a baby shower, how could she expect to have money for an Uber to escape a murderous tyrant? Sometimes faith for a miracle can easily fade into the background when we start whining to God for a little money just to “get away for a short season”. Anywhere is better than hiding in the barn behind the house house!

As you can tell, the pressure from an unexpected turn of destiny is often faith-wreckers! I am NOT saying that the above scenarios were what happened to Mary and Joseph… However, if I had been there “the night before”, I probably would have had some of the above worries!

But, in the end, the whole Bethlehem story came together uniquely and wonderfully:

> The barn in the backyard may have been the place that God provided for them to hide Himself (as baby Jesus)… after all, who would have thought that the barn would be a place where a baby would be born!?1

> The very same wise men who unwittingly triggered a massive attack against babies, were the same ones who provided the money (a huge amount) for the couple to flee to a foreign country with Baby Jesus under protective cover.

So, the moral of the story (Brad Lambeth version), is that if you/me/we don’t flinch under extreme duress, God will provide for us (and Himself) a way of escape from the enemy’s attack! Even if that miracle comes from unexpected and unusual sources of deliverance.

Please don’t censor me for my “out of the box” take on Christmas Eve… ALL great miracles often require a trip into the dark unknown sectors of life… that place where faith can be crushed in unbelief or flourish in a flash of divine providence via unconnected dots of life.

Disclaimer: I am not a Christmas guy, although I have nothing against those who celebrate Christmas. However, I see the Birth of Jesus as a super-example of extreme spiritual activity!

Invitation to lay ministers and pastors: If you are interested, I write 1-2 insider articles per week via www.dyingempty.net I would be delighted to have you join me. Dying Empty News is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. See you in my next article.

Brad Lambeth

Words That Break Bones

Sun, 17 Dec 2023 20:05:04 GMT

Words That Break Bones

The old adage that “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words never will” is FALSE… at least the last part: Words CAN break the bones of a man’s soul willpower.

Yes, we usually consider ourselves brave and even bold. While claiming fearlessness, we are blusterous with our swag and sway of feinted bravery! Yet, there is a difference between the cursing of our enemies against us and the bitter words of hate that issue forth from the lips of those we love and trust. We tend to claim that our enemies cannot hurt us with their ranting and rage.

Maybe not.

However, when in the throes of pain and hurt, be very careful… extra careful, with your words… never forget that it is easy to be too loose with words without considering the consequences of the sharp cuts those thoughtless words can cause to those you dearly love!

I have seen many marriages become hell-pits (even ending in divorce) over weaponized words such as “cow” (constantly yelled at a wife who is struggling with obesity), or… a spouse raging against her husband’s authority, even demeaning him as a man (I will not use the exact words that I have heard so as not to lower the quality level of this article).

I wonder how many weeks/months/years, that Job’s wife set him back in his faith to overcome God’s trial for his life. A better question: are you setting your wife/husband/pastor back with your fiery darts of hateful words? Do you understand the dangers of speaking thoughtlessly?

We need to submit our tongues/lips/words unto the authority of the Holy Ghost!

There are too many “broken” ministers (and saints) in Pentecost! Use your words to heal… NEVER to break bones!

Brad Lambeth

Dying Empty News

Thanks to my faithful subscribers. However if you are new to Dying Empty and have not yet had the opportunity to subscribe, next week I will publish a short series on “dangerous” words on the subscription channel of www.dyingempty.net . It would be an immense pleasure sharing my insights with you and your friends.

Spread The Word & Subscribe Today!

Transparency & Missionary Honesty

Thu, 07 Dec 2023 19:49:30 GMT

Transparency & Missionary Honesty

Yesterday we launched a new newsletter/article channel named Dying Empty. To my current subscribers, thank you! If you are not yet a subscriber, hopefully you will join me as I attempt to dissect Biblical concepts, especially using almost 50 years of missionary experience.

However, it has come to my attention the need to clarify one or two points connected with yesterday’s launch email:

The weekly articles will NEVER deal with internal ministerial subject matters, to the contrary, the insights will expand the understanding of Bible concepts (such as faith, spiritual growth, current events, etc.). Also along the same lines, my articles NEVER request offerings nor do they ever present current missionary projects to entice general readers to invest. I reserve such matters ONLY for the ministry, always in a direct “one on one” type of partnership.
Because I highly respect the pastor>saint relationship, it is NOT my intention to use this newsletter to weaken the solid Apostolic structure of spiritual authority. So, to all/any apostolic saints, let’s do this right: if you should happen to receive this email, please talk with your pastor BEFORE signing up. He may prefer otherwise! It is very important that you have your pastor’s permission BEFORE signing up! Your pastor’s voice is important in your life!
To all other pastors and ministers: please know that this low cost subscription model is designed to share apostolic insights on a low budget, without seeking interaction via social networking. For that reason we are using an email model. So, if you think your ministerial friend(s) would enjoy these weekly emails, please share the link.
As already stated yesterday, I will be restarting a more detailed/deeper ministerial edition of direct classes with ministers and their wives. These classes are exclusive to approved (vetted) Apostolic ministers. Please give me a few weeks to get the basic newsletter launched before beginning the third MINISTERIAL edition of Dying Empty.

If there is need for further clarification, please feel free to follow up with me ( jblambeth@gmail.com ). I would certainly appreciate your input.

Brad Lambeth

Introducing Dying Empty News

info@bluesprinting.ca (Tyson Baker) — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 19:54:39 GMT

Introducing Dying Empty News!

Your patience in reading this letter to the end is appreciated; this longer-than-usual newsletter has a twofold purpose:

To update you about my current health status (thank you for your intense prayers!)… and…
To fill you in on a brand NEW edition of my Dying Empty series!

First things first:
As most of you know, in early November I was admitted to the Hospital due to intense pain on the left side of my body: from the upper neck region down to the tips of my fingers.

The pain was so intense that I canceled, for the first time in my life, two international preaching engagements! Within hours, I was diagnosed with severe Bursitis (left shoulder) and also 2 ruptured disks in the cervical sector of my spinal cord.

It took two weeks of ultra pain therapy and a long drawn-out battle with insurance red tape to get approved for emergency surgery.

Thank You!

It was your prayers and spiritual concern that made the 4-hour surgery a total success!

Today, almost 22 days later, I am still in daily pain, but, at a much lower level of intensity and mainly caused by body adjustments to a new reality (screws, plates, and silicone pads).

The only “worrisome” post-operation issue that I have faced is total numbness in some of my left fingers. However, the neurologist told me the other day that it may take 6-8 months before I will feel the tips of my index finger and thumb.

So, I will now begin a long journey of prayers on YOUR behalf, thanking God for YOUR prayer cover and asking God to reward YOU across the new 2024 year! After all, I would not have survived with quality of life had it not been for YOUR prayers! Thank you!

Now that I am on the other side of this major trial, I am ready to launch into a new vision of ministry on behalf of the Apostolic saints and ministers, worldwide.

Dying Empty Newsletter

I have decided to relaunch my Dying Empty insights under a new type of structure by offering weekly articles of exclusive content via a subscription model to ALL levels of apostolic saints and ministry. The very modest monthly subscription amount will be channeled exclusively toward supporting missions and missionaries. In other words, the new www.dyingempty.net channel will AT THE SAME TIME share my missionary insights and ALSO enable subscribers to give very small/modest amounts to a missionary fund.

Obviously, if the extremely reasonable monthly amount is beyond your financial ability, I will still send out a monthly newsletter completely free of charge!

Finally, if you are a minister, pastor, missionary, lay minister, Pastor’s wife, etc… I will also be relaunching a biweekly LIVE connection. However, the link for the signup page will only be available to the Apostolic ministers and their wives upon direct request to jblambeth@gmail.com .

Please visit www.dyingempty.net to sign up or simply click SUBSCRIBE TODAY. I think you will agree… we will have an exciting 2024 TOGETHER!

Brad Lambeth

dyingempty

Three Essential Parts of an Apostolic Song

Three Essential Parts Of An Apostolic Song

BIG Smiles

BIG Smiles

Pictures That Excite Me

Pictures That Excite Me!

Hydra-Headed

Hydra-Headed.

It Is NEVER A Waste Of Time To Correct A Wrong

It is NEVER a Waste of Time to Correct a Wrong!

SOUL-FILLS

Soul-fills

THIS MAN WAS BORN THERE

This Man Was Born There!

TOO MANY BLESSINGS IS TOO MUCH

Too Many Blessings Is Too Much

BROKEN SILVER VESSELS

S.O.S (Sensitivity Of Spirit)

SING MY SONG FOR ME!

Arrogance Beyond Insubmission

Arrogance Beyond Insubmission

Incredibly Incredulous

Incredibly Incredulous

EXTREME FAITH

EXTREME FAITH

FORTY LONG YEARS

FORTY LONG YEARS

Soul Pointers

Soul Pointers

Harpers Harping Harps!

Harpers Harping Harps!

Unashamedness

Unashamedness

Pot, Kettle Black

Pot, Kettle Black

Never Kiss Your Own Hand!

Never Kiss Your Own Hand!

Always Center, Never at Center

Always Center, Never at Center

In My Right Mind

In My Right Mind

Missionaria Luiza

Missionaria Luiza

News From The Field

News From The Field

New Year, New Past!

New Year, New Past!

Dark Christmas Eve

Dark Christmas Eve

Words That Break Bones

Words That Break Bones

Dying Empty News

Transparency & Missionary Honesty

Transparency & Missionary Honesty

Introducing Dying Empty News

Introducing Dying Empty News!

Dying Empty Newsletter

It is NEVER a Waste of Time to
Correct a Wrong!