Questions and Answers - General Items

Q. Over the years, how have you sustained a passion for God?

I think to sustain your passion for God you have to make knowing God the highest priority in your life. As Christians, I do not believe that we have an option to do anything else. The consequences for losing our first love, or becoming lukewarm, are too tragic. However, even if that were not the case, there is nothing more interesting or fulfilling than knowing God, so it is hard to imagine anyone who has truly met the Lord not being more passionate about walking with Him than anything else this world has to offer.

Q. Would you describe your prayer time?

I am by nature an early morning person, so I rise early and try to spend several hours reading the Scriptures and praying. I also try to pray throughout the day as a conversation, in which I try to also listen to the Lord. In pondering the way that the Lord liked to walk in the garden with Adam and Eve, I have personally found that walking with the Lord is an excellent way to pray.

Q. What is the best way for someone to enter into the secret place?

By the blood of Jesus

Q. Do you journal? How do you record your dreams, visions, and visitations?

I do journal, trying to record every dream, vision, or prophetic experience. I try to do it immediately while they are still fresh in my memory.

Q. You wanted to write at an early age. Was yours a family of artistic ambitions?

I do not know that I wanted to write at an early age, but I felt that I would. I am a lover of books and knowledge, but I did not come from a family of artistic ambitions.

Q. Do you have a writing routine? Is the early morning an especially fruitful time for you? Can you write on an airplane? What is the physical act of writing like for you?

I try to write every day for about four hours, usually immediately after a time of prayer and study in the morning. I have at times been able to write on airplanes during long international flights. I fly myself on most domestic trips. I do not understand the question concerning the "physical act of writing." I do most of my writing typing on a laptop, if that is what you mean.

Q. When you finish a book, is the next project one that has been waiting in line, or is the choice more spontaneous?

Most of the time I work on the next book in line, but there are times when I change the priority spontaneously, or when I feel led to.

Q. When you look back on all the books that youve written, is there one that you like best?

I think my favorite book is going to be the one that I am working on now, the third book in The Final Quest series because the experiences I am writing it from impacted me so much personally, much like those I wrote about in The Final Quest and The Call.

Q. What inspired your new book, Leadership: The Power of a Creative Life?

As the owner of an air charter service, I was able to meet and sometimes get to know quite well, some of the most successful leaders from a wide spectrum of fields such as business, entertainment, sports, technology, the military and politics. It was an excellent opportunity for me to understand what enables some people to have a greater impact on the world. Because of this, I gained quite a bit of insight that was different from other books on the subject, and felt it needed to be shared.

Q. I once heard you make a statement that idealism is the enemy of true vision. Could you explain what idealism is and how it contrasts to vision?

Idealism is basically seeing the ideal way we think things should be. This sounds good, but we must remember that the good side of the Tree of Knowledge is just as deadly as the evil side. Idealism is of human origin, is a form of humanism, and usually sets itself against the Lords purposes. The Pharisees are a good example of the results of adding human ideals to the ways of God. The result of this was that those who cared the most about honoring the ways of the Lord, who seemed to have the greatest hope in the coming of the Messiah, actually opposed Him when He came, and were instrumental in having Him crucified because He did not meet up to their ideals.

We must understand that the Lord has the highest ideals of all for man. His ways are far superior to anything man can conceive of. However, He always comes with very practical, step-by-step ways for man to climb higher in a way that allows him to actually reach that high place. The Pharisees were offended that these "untrained and unlearned" apostles would even try to teach about the Lord and His ways, but those apostles actually knew the Lord and His ways better than anyone else. Even so, those apostles were still far from being all they were called to be at that time. They had much maturing to do as well, but the Lord still made them the leaders of His church because they knew Him better than anyone else.

Think about this. The Lord sent His disciples out to preach the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out devils even before He had taught them to pray! It was only after they came back from their mission that they asked the Lord to teach them to pray. My point is that many who we may reject as not being nearly as mature or knowledgeable as they should be to be His messengers often are, and often have much more of the true activity of God in their life and ministry than those who meet human standards.

Why is it that revival almost always breaks out among tiny little groups of immature and seemingly mixed up people who have little going for them other than a sincere hunger for the Lord? Why is it that He can seldom use the more "mature and established" groups to pour out His new wine through? Human ideals are usually roadblocks to the true moves of God. True vision originates from God, not man, and it sees the heights with practical wisdom for reaching them.

Q. Often times while reading Gods Word I can see things in the past, present, and personally...is God actually speaking to me or is it just the living revelation of His Word being revealed to me?

I cannot say for sure that the Lord is speaking to you in this way, but I do believe that He can. However, I think it is both. His Word is living and even the things that were written thousands of years ago speak to our present circumstances, just as we are told in I Corinthians 10:1-11. I also believe that the Lord can, and often does highlight certain Scriptures to speak to us personally. Our goal is not to just hear the words of the Lord, but to hear the Word, Himself. I believe that we should hear His voice and be taught of Him in everything. He is our Teacher. Even so, this does not mean that we can twist the Scriptures to mean something that they do not mean for everyone. There is no personal interpretation in that sense.

Q. Do you believe that we can interpret prophetic Scriptures allegorically?

Yes. But I also understand why many are afraid of this. There are dangers that it can be taken too far. Even so, the Scriptures themselves teach us that we can do this, and I believe that we actually must in order to understand some things that are written in it. For example, what is "the sign of Jonah?" What is "the Melchezedek priesthood?" We are also taught in the book of Hebrews that Isaac was a "type." He was a biblical model of the Messiah, as were Moses and David.

One example where the Scripture itself uses an allegory is Galatians 4:21-28 when Paul explains that the two wives of Abraham represent the two covenants. If these two women in this story represent such a profound picture of the two covenants, how much more are the other stories representative of important prophetic events?

Of course, foolish, immature, or even idealistic people can take this too far and begin to see what they want to see in the allegories of Scripture. However, you will always have this, and to make laws of biblical interpretation that prohibit what the Scripture itself does to interpret Scripture is a remedy that is worse than the problem.

Q. If every time you looked at the clock it said the same time, would you think the Lord was trying to tell you something? I always seem to glance at the clock at 11:24 a.m. or p.m.

Yes, I do believe that the Lord can speak to us in this way, even though it does not mean necessarily that He is. Often I have found that such a time relates to a Scripture. In your case it might be Proverbs 11:24, that reads, "There is one who scatters, yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, but it results only in want."

Q. Do you have to be ordained as a prophet to be a prophet? How can you know for sure if this is what the Lord wants?

Yes, you do have to be ordained as a prophet to be a prophet. To be ordained is to be appointed by God, and of course we must have this to function in any ministry.

I am often asked how one is to know if God has ordained them. My answer to is that if you have to ask, it has not happened yet. In Scripture we see the Lord ordaining people in many different ways, but it is always a clear commission. For you to know for sure if this is what the Lord wants, He will have to make it clear to you, and I would wait patiently for Him to do it. Otherwise, be happy and don't worry. I'm serious. Ordination to the prophetic can begin some of the most difficult times of your life. If God has not made it clear to you I would not press the issue. If and when He does do this in your life you will know it.