Founder: Dutch Sheets Ministries
Author of more than 20 books, his latest (revised) The Power of Hope (2014)
Internationally known author, teacher and conference speaker
Has pastored and taught in several colleges and seminaries
Executive Director for Christ for the Nations
Guest Bio
Dutch Sheets: The Power of Hope
CBN.com
–THE POWER OF HOPE
When life doesn’t turn out as we hoped it would, it’s easy to let negative attitudes dominate our thoughts. When faced with discouragement, confusion, unbelief, bitterness and cynicism, many times we tend to run ahead of God to try to change the situation, or worse yet, run completely away from God. Dutch says, “This is a season where people are facing fearful scenarios…everything from healthcare to the economy.” People everywhere are looking for hope and Dutch reminds us that the Bible tells us in Proverbs 13:12, Hope deferred makes the heart sick. Hope deferred is the common cold to us in this lifetime. “No one makes it through life without suffering from some level of this disease,” he says.
Dutch shares a story where his brother was allowed to witness an open heart surgery. During the procedure, the medical team couldn’t restart the patient’s heart. After exhausting all efforts, the doctor leaned into the unconscious patient’s ear and said, “We need your help. We cannot get your heart restarted. Tell your heart to start beating.” Instantly, the woman’s heart started beating. Dutch says that is what we have to do when we experience hope deferred. To kickstart the restoration process, we have to tell our spiritual heart that we are going to begin again. “There’s a time to grieve and there’s a time to hope,” says Dutch. “We need to get hope deferred under control.” Our restarting process may be as simple as declaring what God says about us over our lives.
Begin by meditating on God’s Word. Dutch reminds us when we position ourselves with the Lord, the circumstances around us lose their power to imprison us and our perspective and focus change. Drawing nearer to God may include praise and worship. By singing and exalting the Lord, Dutch says we can radically change our lives with and extreme dose of praise and worship. Dutch reminds us that God knows how to form the broken pieces of our souls into something wonderful. “Never underestimate the power of repair and restore,” says Dutch.
THIRD GREAT AWAKENING
Dutch says God has been showing him that we are moving toward a third great awakening. “I believe we are in the early phases of that, and I am starting to see pockets of revival,” he says. Thousands of people are giving their lives to the Lord in various cities where Dutch has ministered. “God has shown me that it’s coming. I stir people to pray and believe for this and am starting to see the fruit of it,” he says. “We are seeing more signs and wonders; more in the last year than in the previous ten,” he says.
When he ministers, Dutch says he has been taking a flag around with him. It’s the “Appeal to Heaven” flag which was commissioned by George Washington. When Washington and his troops faced an overwhelming situation, they knew the only way to win was if God was for them. “Just like our founding fathers appealed to heaven, we too must appeal to heaven for the giants we face. We have to do the same thing and God will give us victory in the same way He gave them victory in the past.”
Dutch says the emblem on the Appeal to Heaven flag is an evergreen tree which has always been a sign of covenant. The pine tree was considered sacred by the Iroquois Indians. During a troubling time in their history, a peacemaker united 6 tribes whereby they buried their hatchets at the base of an evergreen tree (which is where we get the saying, bury the hatchet). “We are in covenant with God, and we are appealing to Him,” says Dutch. In Genesis 21:33, both the evergreen and calling on God are mentioned. “He is going to be the One who helps us,” says Dutch.
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