Big Brother really IS watching you... His Name is JESUS!

Lately, as Whistleblowers are exposing the government's efforts to "spy" on its citizens, "data-mining," as they call it, many are being reminded of "Big Brother" from Orwell's classic novel, "1984." Seems we can't make a move without the prying eyes of the Nanny State minding our business, seemingly on a mission to catch us doing something deemed as being wrong.

When I was a kid, I used to picture God with a long white beard, baseball bat in-hand, waiting for just the right moment to smack me into submission. I would even pray for forgiveness in advance, in case I rolled over in my sleep and pointed my bottom toward Heaven! 

I am NOT kidding! 

I refer to this as a demonic fear of the Lord. Perhaps it stemmed from the nursery rhyme about the Li'l Ol' Lady who lived in a shoe with an army of rug rats, who "whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed." Who knows?

As the years progressed, I came to understand the unmerited favor and unconditional love of God and that quivering fear morphed into a loving Father-Son relationship as I came to understand more thoroughly the work of the cross. Because of Jesus, I am the righteousness of God (I'm in right-standing with Him) and my sins have been made white as snow. This truth causes me love the Lord more and more all the time. 

Introducing the Brotherhood of Man to the Fatherhood of God has become a passion for me. I've learned that can be accomplished only by introducing others to Christ in me, the Hope of Glory. My mission has become this: loving others by introducing them to God's love personified, Jesus Christ, shining through me. 

Jesus said He came as an example. To me, that means of everything He did or experienced, good, bad, glorious and miraculous, we should expect nothing less. He is our older brother, according to Hebrews 2:11 (NLT) which says, "Jesus and the ones He makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them His brothers and sisters." 

Our older brother Jesus has been here and done that. Among other things... 

-He lived in an occupied nation ruled by a tyrannical government. 

-He lived in primitive and unsanitary conditions. 

-His dad was a laborer and Jesus spent most of His life learning a trade He would never get to use. 

-He knows what it's like to get tempted (Matthew 4). 

-He faced opposition to His ministry, false accusations, and betrayal and desertion by His friends. 

-He defeated the neighborhood bully (Satan) for the sake of His younger siblings (you and me).

Jesus said "I am with you always..." and "I will never leave or forsake you." When so many people are so concerned about "Big Brother" watching us, truth is, our Big Brother, Jesus, is actually watching out FOR us.

Be encouraged!

Every blessing,

Michael Tummillo 

Founder, The Church @ Work

Make Jesus the Lord of your Workplace TODAY!

Yes, all around the planet, today is "Take Your Jesus to Work Day." Truth is, that describes EVERY day. Our  challenge is to truly surrender our work day to Him, allowing Him to actually BE the "Lord" of the workplace. The word "lord" actually means "Owner" and, I gotta ask, "Is Jesus the Owner of your workplace? Your department? You?" 

Has anyone there ever prayerfully consulted Jesus regarding your business and marketing plans, hirings and firings and training programs? Have you done so lately? Have you ever sought His will regarding whether or not to hire a Workplace Chaplain or start a Bible Study after work, or are you motivated by fear and the lie commonly referred to as "The wall of separation of Church and State," found nowhere in our Constitution or any other founding legal documents, incidentally?

Maybe you don't run the organization. No matter. As a child of God, you wield an incredible amount of spiritual power that allows you to set the tone as to how that company will operate. It may take time, but you are a thermostat, NOT a thermometer, fully equipped to claim that facility for God's Kingdom. Remember to arrive early, leave late and work hard in-between. Set an example of excellence, treating customers, coworkers and vendors as you would like to be treated yourself. Expect favor with God and with mankind while you're there. Pray under your breath while saving your "ministry moments" for breaks, lunchtime, before and after work. Pray daily for Divine Appointments and the Holy Spirit will arrange them. 

"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell in it." You see, Jesus is already the Lord of all things. Sadly, too few of us have surrendered to Him that special place in every aspect of our own lives. Does He own our past, or are we harboring some secret, some pain that has become all too familiar and comfortable to us, so much so we can't imagine life without it? Is He Lord of our present as well as our future... our habits, attitudes, relationships and finances, too?

Make a verbal declaration; life and death are in the power of the tongue, remember? Declare Jesus is the Lord of your workplace right now. Do it again tomorrow.

Before I was a Workplace Chaplain, a business owner asked if I'd come and bless her facility where homosexuality was running amok. Along with several others, we met her there one evening and prayed, declaring Jesus was Lord of that place. Shortly afterward, the lesbian Administrator resigned followed by the other gay employees. A new Administrator was hired, a godly man, I became the Workplace Chaplain, and the entire atmosphere changed. I've worked for several organizations where similar things took place, changing the environment completely. 

Welcome Jesus to take His rightful place in your workplace. Make Him your silent partner today... and get ready to receive His directives.

Every blessing,

Michael Tummillo

Founder, The Church @ Work

WHat do you have bottled up?

Charlie's angel

After my first trip to Moore, Oklahoma with the Austin Disaster Relief Network (ADRN), one of my ministry opportunities was with a couple I'll call Ernie and Autumn (not their real names). They'd lost their home in the tornado and were staying with Autumn's mother, a woman I'll call Charlotte. After returning to Texas for 5 days, I received a text message from an ADRN Chaplain named Machelle asking when I'd be returning. Autumn had returned to the Disaster Relief Center at Westmoore High and had asked if I could come to Charlotte's house and minister healing to her. She was dying of cancer.

When my first day back in Moore had ended, I called Autumn from the high school parking lot, told her I was available and asked her how to get there. She seemed thrilled to hear from me and gave me Charlotte's address, adding I was only 20 minutes away. 

The neighborhood was awesome... large, beautiful old homes with big trees and fine-trimmed lawns. When I arrived, still wearing my yellow ADRN shirt and black cap, Ernie was standing outside and greeted me warmly. Autumn had stepped out with her aunt, sister and a friend and would return soon. He took me inside to meet Charlotte. 

She was lying on the couch, several pillows under her head, eyes half-shut, cheeks drawn, her voice barely a whisper. She had black hair with surprisingly few grey strands and wore a white night gown and nothing on her feet. 

As a nursing home Chaplain, I'd been here before, conversing, praying with and ministering to old folks. For some reason, I asked her if I could call her "Charlie." She smiled and said people used to call her that when she was a girl. So, Charlie it was! Her daughters, sister and a friend snuck in about that time and were either seated or standing behind me. Ernie introduced us to each other. 

Turning back to Charlie, I squatted next to her, I asked, "Charlie, are you ready to die?" She answered very matter-of-factly, "No, not at all." Her daughter interrupted, "And we aren't READY for her to die!" I responded, "Well, that makes all of us... be it unto us according to our faith!"

In an effort to build her faith, I shared a couple of stories of God's miracle-working power that I'd experienced personally, people on their death beds who lived or were healed after receiving this kind of ministry. I even shared my own story of being miraculously healed of an "incurable" spinal disease. I reminded them how Jesus never told us to pray for the sick; He told us to heal them. We discussed the laying on of hands and anointing with oil. They were in agreement with all that. Charlie asked if she could smell the oil I brought and I obliged. "Mmmmm," she responded, "I love that!" Autumn's sister was now seated upon the couch and had Charlie's bare feet in her lap and was rubbing them. I shared with her how the word 'anoint' actually means 'to rub.' 

Before any ministry took place, I turned to the others in the room and told them how, at the risk of offending anyone, I'd prefer they leave the room if they didn't have the faith for healing. I reminded them of the Biblical account where Jesus cleared the room before He ministered to the dead daughter of Jairus. Suddenly, Ernie popped up from his chair, reached for a pack of cigarettes off the cluttered table and said, "I'm gonna to step outside." 

After anointing Charlie's head and declaring words of health and life over her, commanding Death and Cancer to go, in Jesus' Name, she opened her moist, grey eyes, looked up at me and whispered, "Thank you, Michael." As I spoke with the ladies, answering questions, witnessing, Charlie had propped herself up to a sitting position. Then, as I was speaking with the daughter who'd been rubbing her feet, she said, "Excuse me, I gotta go pee!" I gave her my arm, we stood her to her feet and off she walked, quite spryly.

The ladies and I looked at each other as if to say, "Did that really just happen?" As we continued the conversation, Charlie returned and sat back upon the couch, pulling a blanket around her torso. Exhausted from all the ministry of the day, I leaned toward Charlie and said, "You call me when your healing totally manifests itself, OK? I wanna hear from YOU, not Autumn!" She agreed. We embraced, followed by warm hugs of gratitude all around, and off I went, marveling that God would ever use me to minister in this way. 

I was Charlie's angel that evening; the word means "Messenger." That was me! I was privileged to bring her and her family words encouragement, words of life and hope. As Proverbs 18:21 declares, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." That's all I had to bring Charlie that day, my words backed with faith in my God, the Father I've grown to trust and who, apparently, has learned He can trust me, too. 

Get ready... you may be next! Remember this: Divine Healing is only difficult when we start believing we have anything to do with it; this is between Charlie and Jesus now. Frankly, with child-like faith, I can't wait to get that call from Charlie!

Every blessing,

Michael Tummillo

Founder, The Church @ Work

Traumas and tragedies: Jesus cares!

Most of us have gone through something traumatic in our lives. Trauma is often determined by our emotional and spiritual condition at the moment of impact. Though some will wear a mask and seem to rebound immediately, others resort to becoming the proverbial “basket case.” Typically, we dust ourselves off and tell ourselves to be a grown-up, deal with it the best way we know how and move on. There's a problem with that attitude: it doesn't work.

No matter how badly we attempt to suppress that/those thing(s) that happened to us, truth is, it all becomes a part of us. We might “replay the movie” or experience “triggers” which cause us to re-live the moment, never really experiencing freedom from the incident, the liberty promised in God's Word. As Christians, even though we read the Bible, attend church and have momentary flashes of God's grace, we wonder why it is we still struggle with depression, anger, sleeplessness, addictive behaviors, nightmares, bad relationships and more. Where is that life of an overcomer we hear so much about?

I submit to you this response: We are receptacles. All our lives, good and bad, stuff is being poured into us. From poor parenting to physical, sexual and emotional abuse, bullying, rejection and neglect. From bad relational soul-ties, books, magazines, videos to bad religious training and a damaging public education, it's all in there. Add to that a divorce, sickness, a natural or manmade disaster and we, as receptacles, are filled with incidents that will hinder our faith, cripple us a Christians, and destroy our lives, all according to Satan's plan. As the years go by, we wonder why our self-esteem is so low, why we get so easily offended or angered, why we sabotage our relationships. Despite our fervor for Jesus, we are convinced “something” isn't right. Church attendance doesn't seem to have a long-lasting impact, so we bail-out on that. Then, guilt sets in as Satan continues messing with our minds.

I CAN'T HANDLE THIS!

So, there we are, a bottle filled with all those negatives. Who could possibly handle all that? Well, His Name is Jesus. If we could only find the strength to release what has become so great a part of who we are. It's downright scarey!

The central theme of the New Testament is “Jesus is Lord!” We say it, but what does it mean? The word 'Lord' is the Greek word “kyrios.” Literally, the word means “Owner.”

Hmmm. Jesus is the Owner? “The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world and all who dwell in it.” (Psalm 24:1). Jesus truly does own all things. The problem is, most people are trying to hang on to what He should actually be lording over, i.e., our pain, our hurts, our tragedies and traumas. No parent can put a broken wheel back on a toy truck unless that truck is released into their hands. Get it? We have to relinquish control. Therein lies the challenge.

My suggestion is this: Pray with fervor for the grace it will take to truly let go of whatever hindering garbage you've been carrying around all these years. Let Jesus BE the Lord of that junk. He said, “My yoke is easy, My burden is light.” Don't go one more day without making that swap!

While I was in Moore, Oklahoma, many with whom I spoke were brought to tears when they realized they'd been playing god with their own lives, carrying burdens they were never meant to carry, including the trauma of losing everything to a tornado or flood, in some cases, more than once in their lives. Can you see why so many of our military personnel are never the same after facing the tragedy, fear and pain associated with combat?

Throwing drugs, alcohol and money at the problem is NOT the answer. Neither is religious routine! This is about you and the lordship of Jesus regarding your emotional health, NOT church attendance. In the months after a disaster, suicides and divorce often follow suit, not to mention an increase in drinking, etc. In an attempt to self-medicate, even God-loving people make poor choices out of desperation, only to wind up guilt-ridden.

MAYBE THIS WILL HELP YOU!

Following is an exercise I recommend everyone reading this should take part in. You have nothing to lose: 1) close your eyes and think about the most traumatic incident you've ever experienced. What happened? 2) What were you doing when the incident took place? Where were you? 3) What stands out in your mind as the most significant thing to happen to you about this incident? 4) Had you ever felt like this prior to the incident? 5) What has been happening in your life since the incident took place (insomnia, grief, anger, fear)? 6) What possible good could come about as a result of that awful incident (there IS an answer)?

Talking through these questions with a trusted friend, a minister or a counselor could be the very thing you need in order to experience freedom from something that's held you in bondage for decades. Guarantee: if you do nothing, nothing has any chance of changing.

In Moore, many people experienced the end of the world as they'd known it. While one merely experienced a flooded bedroom – a major incident, depending on one's emotional and spiritual state at that moment - others had near-death, surreal experiences or lost everything they owned – car, house, job, pets, maybe even a loved one. Will this event be a stumbling block for the rest of their lives, or a launching pad? Will they wind up being an elderly nursing home Resident wondering why they've always slept so poorly, struggled with depression and turned to alcohol, or had such an unseemly disposition all their lives?

This one thing I know: After walking amidst the devastation of that little Oklahoma suburb, I still can not believe hundreds didn't perish there. Even when it was reported 51 had died, the number was ultimately reduced to 24. The Survivors have experience firsthand the grace of Almighty God; they're alive! Many are asking “For what purpose, Lord?” Believe me, He has one. As a man who has lost everything in the past, trust me, He has one.

And all things really DO work together for good! (Romans 8:28)

What about you? Don't you want to have the greatest Christian impact possible in the days ahead? Is anything from your past holding YOU back?

Every blessing,

Michael Tummillo

Founder, The Church @ Work

Have you ever prayed against bad weather? You should!

One evening, while my wife and I were remodeling our home, the TV was on in another room and we heard a severe weather alert; a super cell was creeping toward Arlington, Texas. I returned to my work, swinging my hammer, all the while attempting to shake that still small voice telling me to rebuke the storm.

I ignored it.

After the third time of feeling led to declare peace to that storm, many miles away and lighting up the distant sky, I put down my hammer and told my wife I was being led to pray in that manner. She dropped her tools, too, and followed me through the house toward the door. As we crossed the room in front of the TV, we could see the weather report, a giant, red blob moving steadily toward Arlington, a town she was born and raised in and had relatives living there and in which I had lived 14 years, ministered there and still had many friends. 

We were moved with compassion.

We sat in our lawn chairs in the darkness, the cool wind blowing hard as lightning lit up the sky over the trees many miles away. Afterward, we were overjoyed as we re-entered the house and saw that the massive red blob nearing Arlington had suddenly shrunk, the weather man announcing with some bewilderment the sudden, almost-instant cancellation of the tornado warning!

Last year, I found myself praying against a tornado when I saw a warning on the TV for the town where my son lived in an apartment complex with his wife and their new baby. He had lost cell phone communication with her and sped home to find downed trees, destroyed cars and trucks, emergency vehicles... but his family's unit was untouched except for a small scratch on her car.

I could continue with similar personal testimonies. Quite a few. One might ask, "Who does he think he is that he would dare pray against a tornado?" I will respond with the same answer I give to those who ask that question in regard to the ministry of divine healing: "It's only difficult if I were to think I have anything to do with it." I know better than to think I could do anything without the power of the Spirit of God (Romans 8:11).

You see, it was Jesus - the One who calmed the storms, healed the sick and performed many miracles - who said, "...he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father," (John 14:12).

Jesus gave His first disciples the authority to carry out His will here on earth, but they weren't the only ones; He also gave ALL His disciples for ALL time the authority to do the works He did, and more... even calming tornadic activity as the Spirit leads.

Sadly, far too few "Believers" actually BELIEVE these things are even possible. Hosea 4:6 tells us, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Instead, they wring their hands during every weather alert, fearful and intimidated, even though, as 2 Timothy 1:7 declares, "God has not given us the Spirit of Fear, but of POWER, of LOVE and of a Sound Mind" (emphasis mine).

Jesus said He came as an example. When He calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee, I contend He was setting another example. Didn't the Father tell Adam to "take dominion"? Don't we have authority over "all creeping things" and doesn't a tornado "creep" across the countryside, wreaking havoc? Folks, we are engaged in warfare. When Death and Destruction are unleashed against us, we have been provided with weapons that are not carnal, but they are mighty through God. It's high-time we appropriated the power we've been given and exercise our authority, in Jesus' Name. 

Following is a declarative prayer you might feel led to pray if you are ever staring down a natural, life-threatening disaster:

Psalm 197:29 says, "He calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled the waves." So, it's by the authority of the Name of Jesus, and by His example, that we declare peace to this storm. Greater is He who is IN US than he who is in the world. This storm is just a nuisance intended to kill, steal and destroy but I say, according to God's Word (Isaiah 54:17), "no weapon formed against US will prosper!" By the Power of the Holy Spirit within us, we command you to stay away from us, our loved ones and our property! The Blood of Christ is against you! I break all your assignments now and I release the Peace of Christ in your place. Dissipate NOW, in Jesus' Name! AMEN!

One last thought... I've ministered in Moore, Oklahoma recently, site of the recent EF4 tornado. At 2 miles wide, over 200 mph, that twister stayed in place over 40 minutes... unheard of! Though the destruction was indescribable, I am continually amazed at how FEW people were lost there as a result; only 24. In my book, that was nothing short of miraculous! Together with a small group of Senior Citizens in a nursing home, we joined our prayers with those who were praying for Moore before the monster struck. My wife and I exercised our authority AGAIN last night as a dozen more tornadoes hit Oklahoma, not to mention a massive sinkhole opening up, large hail and flooding. 

Were you praying with us? If not, join us next time, no matter where you are!

Every blessing,

Michael Tummillo

Founder, The Church @ Work