jonesministry.com

Come Dig the well with us!

Many of you have heard the news that we are moving to Knightsville, (Charleston), South Carolina. We are relocating this September in order to plant a church!

Check it out!

Link to church plant video updates from this page!

In preparation for the move and the church plant we are hosting an event in Knightsville SC. Saturday May 31st. The event is called “Dig the Well”.

We believe that there is a well to be stirred up in Knightsville - and we are inviting our friends, intercessors and worshippers to come and DIG THE WELL with us! It will be a day of worship, prayer and prophetic flow! Please let us know if you would like to join us and we can forward you more details regarding the event. Thanks for you love and support - Joneses.

For more details visit: newdaychurchsc.com

Gen 26:18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them.

Some of you know I have written a young readers fantasy novel THE UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM. It is an allegory of God’s Kingdom for young people and child-like adults! It reveals God as a loving, fatherly king and God’s kingdom as an enthralling, magical and dangerous realm to live in. It is a parable and a good one, if I do say so myself! It is also the first of a series and I am currently writing the sequel “The Kingdom Of Rightside-Up”.

I will be posting excerpts frequently on the run up to it’s release! Check it out!

Excerpt From Chapter 4

The King’s Banqueting Table

Rufus shrugged and appeared to be feeling sad as he put on his old, tattered coat. He made his way over to stand next to Susianna, staring at his shoes. The King had his kind eyes fixed on the little boy. Rufus looked frail, thin and alone even with his new friends around him.

“Rufus will be staying,” announced the King, to the surprise of all of the children.

“But, Your Majesty,” ventured Susianna, “won’t his mother miss him?”

“My little friend,” the King said to Rufus as he crouched down, looking at him with the most wonderful kindness. The King glanced up at Susianna and said, “Rufus does not have a mother or father.”

“No mother or father?” Susianna said turning to Rufus. “Why did you not tell us?”

Rufus bowed his head in shame. He did not like people to know that he was an orphan. “How did you know?” Rufus asked the King timidly. He was still staring at his shoes. The King was very close to him now.

“I know you, Rufus, and by the power that is too deep for you to understand, I have brought you here because you were alone. You shall stay with me now, and your heart will mend just as well as your leg did.”

The children were so enthralled by their experience in the palace that they had quite forgotten why they had come in the first place. “Sire, that is why we came,” explained Ulysees. “To tell you that this very afternoon we saw your power at work through our hands”

“Yes, I know. I felt power depart from me, and I rejoiced in your understanding, Ulysees. Well done. I am very pleased with you.” At these words from the mouth of the King, Ulysees felt his heart swell as if would burst into one hundred happy pieces.

The King gave Rufus’ leg a little squeeze and scooped him up on his big arm. He looked toward the other two children and smiled at them with such warmth that Susianna felt she wanted to stay too.

“My fine young friends,” the king continued, “you will be back sooner than you imagine. I look forward to it very much.” And with that he turned and walked away.

Susianna and Ulysees watched as the Great King strode away with little Rufus peeping over his broad, strong shoulders.

“Poor, little Rufus,” said Susianna.

Ulysees was smiling, and he tipped his head towards Susianna. “He will not be so when we return,” he said.

“What do you mean?” asked Susianna.

“Nobody who spends any length of time with the King remains the same. You will see.” Ulysees smiled. “Come. I am tired.”

Then, the two children rode home in the King’s carriage, remembering all that they had seen and heard in the wonderful presence of the King.

Keep looking for the next excerpt! Let me know what you think.

This last weekend (September 14th-16th) we had the pleasure of taking a team of 11 adults and 3 children on a ministry trip to Alpena MI for a “Becoming You” seminar. It was such a privilege to see God bringing healing and imparting vision to so many people. There was an elderly lady at the event who had been struggling with depression for some time. During the ministry time the Lord visited with her and she had a tangible experience of the oil of joy being poured into her heart. The heaviness lifted and 24 hours later she was still expressing great joy! People met with the Father and so many were profoundly touched by the prophetic ministry of the team. Praise God for His amazing love - Wow!

In recent months I have felt challenged with the following question. How free am I to be myself? I think about Jesus, he said what was on his mind. He lived a life that was the perfect example of freedom. His “yes” was yes and his “no” was indeed no. There was no pretense, no hiding. He was able to be who He was meant to be, so that He could do what He was meant to do. I want to live that kind of life. Don’t you?

I started to consider other well known leaders. The apostle Paul, Smith Wigglesworth, Maria Woodeworth Etta. Leaders who were were brave and seemingly unhindered by the snare of the fear of man. I want to live that kind of life. Then, I found myself thinking about Adolf Hitler. Not somebody I want to emulate, but a man whose leadership had a huge impact on the world. I took some time to learn about him, and I discovered something that struck a chord inside of my heart. Did you know that Adolf Hitler’s childhood dream was to be a Christian minister?

I discovered this fact in every biography that I found concerning Adolf Hitler’s childhood years. And I started to ask myself these questions. What if Hitler was really called by God to enter the ministry? What if he had fulfilled this call? What if his gift to address thousands of people and cast vision was used to expand God’s kingdom and not the Nazi regime? What if Adolf Hitler had become who he was meant to be?

As I was dizzied by the possibilities I thought of something else (actually Scott did). Adolf Hitler is a name with which we are all familiar. We are all impacted by his dreadful legacy. But what about all the “leaders” we never even hear about? The ones who should have been great. The ones who did not fulfill their destiny. The ones who did not become who they were meant to be.

God declared to Israel “I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” He declares the same intentions to his people today. I believe with all of my heart that in order to do what we are meant to do, we need to become who we are meant to be. Adolf Hitler became an orphan at the age of eighteen. He was poor, living only on an orphan’s pension. It was during this time that bitterness rose up in his heart against various people groups. And you know the rest of the story.

In the Beatitudes Jesus said “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Isn’t that just the dream of your life? To see God. I want to see God in every area of my life. I want to see him in my fulfilled destiny. I want to see him when the false prophets of unpaid bills, sleepless nights and unsolvable problems tell me “You don’t have what it takes.” I want to gird up the loins of my mind and run fast and hard the race that is prepared for me. I want to be free of unforgiveness, bitterness and shame. I want to have the eyes of my understanding enlightened so that I can see God and receive the vision He wants to impart to me. I want the orphan in me to experience divine adoption. I want to become who I am mean to be, so that I can do what I am meant to do? Don’t you?

In response to these important questions we are now offering a week end seminar called “Becoming You”. It focuses on the issue of becoming who you were meant to be so that you can do what you are meant to do.

Our first son Sam is 3 years old. Recently, I felt challenged about introducing him to the Jesus I know. I wanted to impart something into the core of his being. The truth that Jesus is fun. He is an adventure. I have written him a series of stories. The results have been exciting! Here is one of them.

Jesus Makes Those Ouches Go Away!

One day Jesus came to Sam’s house to take him on an adventure. Sam loved to go on adventures with Jesus. Jesus told Sam to bring his skate board with them. They both hopped on their skate boards, but as they were skating away from Sam’s house Sam fell off his skateboard.

“Ouch, my leg!” cried Sam. Sam’s leg felt very sore. Jesus ran right over to Sam and said “Sam, watch this!” Jesus reached out his hand, touched Sam’s sore leg and said “Ouche go away!” Sam stopped crying. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.” said Sam.
“How did you do that?”
“I have power in my hands that can make any ouches go away, big ouches, little ouches and even very serious ouches – like the ones that make people die.”
“Wow, cool” said Sam.
And then Jesus said something that really got Sam’s attention. “Sam now that you are my friend you can make ouches go away too.”
“How?” asked Sam.
“I have put the same power that is in my hands into your hands. So now when you see ouches you can touch them and do just what I did “ouches go away!” My power is strong enough to make all ouches feel better.”
“Cool” said Sam. So Sam and Jesus played together all day and had lots of fun until it was time for their next adventure.

A few weeks after telling Sam this story, something happened. Sam had an epiphany! A friend came to stay at our home and he became unwell. The guest was sitting in our dining room and said “I don’t think I can come out with you guys…I feel so unwell.” Sam, who was two at the time became unusually still. He approached our guest and said “But Jon Patel there is power in my hands!” He placed his little hands on our friend and asked “Is your ouchee gone, Jon Patel?”. I could feel the presence of God in the room.
Our friend was amazed. He laughed and answered “Well I do feel a bit better actually!”