Fresh Oil, New Wine.....hopefully is mine this week!

I am once again at the week long conference called, "Fresh Oil, New Wine" that is held at Central Baptist Church in Chattanooga, TN. The host pastor is Ron Phillips, the most Godly, loving, Spirit-filled man I know!


This is an awesome week at one Southern Baptist Church that really, I mean really, knows what it means to be Spirit filled. I see pastors that are walking in the supernatural. I see church members that are doing more in the power of the Spirit than most pastors I know. It is an awesome week of encouraging all of us that THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER is real and available to us all!


I will blog this week's events and how they affect me both here and at my other site,
www.busterspeaks.blogspot.com. I hope you will check these sites daily and find out what God might be willing to do in your life as I hope He will do in mine, this week.

God Bless you as you walk in the Promise of the Father,
Buster Wilson

January 27, 2006

For an up-to-date posting of what's going on in the world of Buster Wilson, please check out my church blog,

Friendshipchurch.blogspot.com

Thanks and God bless!

Buster Wilson

Make '06 the Year Of the Spirit!

It's NOT by.......but BY MY SPIRIT, saith the Lord!

Whatever else you look forward to doing, being, seeing, accomplishing, or enjoying in 2006, I encourage you to make it the year that you finally accept the FACT that it is BY HIS SPIRIT that true life is lived!

Every born again believer has the Holy Spirit of God living within them (Romans 8:9). And every Spirit indwelt believer has the privilege of being Spirit FILLED. It is one thing to have God's Spirit living inside of you; it's quite another thing to have His Spirit living THROUGH you.

Do you want this to be the year that you finally figure it out and begin to live under His Spirit's power and influence on a daily basis? I don't believe in "formulas" as any kind of quick answer for such powerful concepts. Nevertheless, here's some formulaic type help in understanding how to be "Spirit Filled"!

1. Be certain that you are saved. (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:40; Romans 10:9, 10, 13)

2. Confess any known sins. This is an acknowledgement of God's forgiveness in Jesus and your need of that forgiveness. (1 John 1:9)

3. Repent of your sins (Acts 2:38) so that you can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

4. Ask God to give the Spirit as the baptizing filler/controller of your life. (Luke 11:11-14)

5. Believe that God answers that prayer and receive the Spirit's filling by faith! (Gal. 3:14)

Now that you have received the filling of the Spirit by faith, here are some things that would make this experience more powerful in your life. These principles are clearly shown in the Scriptures attached. Please read the verses in your Bible.

1. Open your mouth and speak! Everyone that is Spirit Filled in the New Testament spoke. They PRAISED God and spoke His Word with boldness! (Eph. 5:18-23; Acts 4:31)

2. The filling of the Spirit is MANIFESTED in our lives. That is, that filling or control of the Spirit is EVIDENCED, proven, shown forth, manifested for you and others to see. It accomplishes something that can be seen. The filling of the Spirit is for POWER (Acts 1:8)! So LOOK FOR and believe in the manifestations of the Spirit's power! (changed lives, answered prayer, healing, deliverance, etc. Acts 1:8; Mark 16:17-18, 20).

3. The Power of the filling brings boldness and ability to be His witnesses. (Acts 1:8). Begin TODAY to WITNESS to the love of God in Jesus Christ to others! Do it with power and boldness and confidence! Acts 1:8 says that when the Spirit comes "upon" you (that is, when He fills you) that you will have the power to be a witness for Jesus, so ACT like one!

4. The supreme manifestation of the Spirit's Filling is the Love of Jesus flowing through us to others! (John 13:34, 35). The filling of the Spirit is like Rivers of Living Water flowing out of our inner most being to others who need Him (John 7:37-39). Love as Jesus loved. Forgive as He forgave. Give as He gave.

The filling of the Spirit is easy to lose because He is a sensitive person who revolts at sin! He is the HOLY Spirit. When you fail and commit sin, accept your forgiveness that is found in the Blood of Jesus, confess your sin (1 John 1:9), and repeat the steps to the filling fullness above once again. You may have to do this often. So don't worry. He longs for us to yield to Him and will love you for coming to Him and asking for His strength to be manifested in you.

God bless you my friend. Make '06 THE year! Walk today in the Holy Spirit's power and influence. That's what the world needs so desperately!
Because He Promised,
Buster Wilson

The Death of one of our Generals

His Name was Adrian.

I don't mind telling you that the death of Dr. Adrian Rogers hit me hard. Real hard. And I didn't really expect it to.

Back in those early days of pastoring in the beginning, I lived close enough to the Old Bellvue Baptist Church in Memphis that I could attend his weekly Christian Businessmen's Luncheon. Afterwards, he would take as much time as his schedule would allow to talk with us individually, especially if he found out we were one of the "preacher boys" at the meeting. I once cowered up to him sheepishly apologizing for having once used one of his sermon outlines as my own. (Little did I know that every Baptist pastor had used an Adrian Rogers outline at least once in their lives!) He laughed one of his big laughs and said, "Son, if I've got any bullets that'll fit in your gun, shoot 'em!"

I also spent an entire week at the old church for the morning sessions of the School of Evangelism that Billy Graham put on while he was conducting his crusade in Memphis back in the late seventies. It was during that week that the former pastor at Bellvue famously known for his sermon, Payday Someday, died. He was famous for preaching on heaven, too. While Billy Graham, Adrian Rogers and others were praying and singing around his hospital bed one morning of that crusade week, he raised up in the bed, grabbed Dr. Graham by the arm and cried out, "Billy, I never did it justice!" Adrian Rogers was there and those are the kinds of personal memories I have of him.

I also remember the sometimes vicious battle for the Bible, as it was sometimes called, in the Southern Baptist Convention in the mid 80's. It was from those days that I have hung upon Dr. Rogers the title of "General". He led us as a convention to refuse to compromise on our stance on the inerrancy of the Bible. It was God's Word, infallible and inerrant, period! I will also be grateful to him for the example of integrity and character that I saw in those days.

He was, though he might have disagreed with me on a point or two, a very Spirit Filled man with a powerful preaching emphasis on the Spirit's power. He was really only one of a very limited few that I even recall preached on the subject at all in those days. There were those times that what he said wasn't quite enough for me. But as I look back upon his life, I now realize that he at least said what he DID say.

I will always remember the Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis when recounted his experience of casting a demon out of a man at a crusade in India! Twice a past president of the Convention, speaking from the platform of the the current Convention and admitting that he had cast a demon out of a man in Jesus' Name and in obedience to Mark 16. What a man!

I loved him far more than I realized I did.

His memorial service the second week of November will always be remembered by me as one of the top 3 spiritual events in my life! It so inspired me in several key but basic areas of my life.

First, it caused me to long for all that mattered like Dr. Rogers did. What was it that was all that mattered to him? To finish the course and run the race and to do it well. All that matters is to please our Master and to hear him say, "Well done thou good and faithful servant".

Secondly, it inspired me to get back to being a soul winner again. How could any activity or THING get so important that it keeps me from winning souls? He plead with people to "Come to Jesus" on a regular basis; in fact, his memorial was titled thus.

Then, his love for the Word of God overwhelmed me. It was though nothing else mattered in ministry but to teach and preach and proclaim his powerful Word. I had gotten a little cold in reading and knowing and loving His Word like I used to. Not after this night of memorial remembrances.

I was moved afresh to be a man who loved my wife and children above all others. Everyone who knows anything about Adrian Rogers at all knows about the love affair of his life, Miss Joyce. I got back into my car after the services and called my two daughters to tell them that I loved them. I fell in love with my family afresh on that night.

I thank God for the ministry, integrity, character and life of Dr. Adrian Rogers.

I thank God for allowing me to know this General in the conservative Christian Army.

I'm proud to say that I considered myself one of the privates under his command.

We will miss him dearly.

It's the soft spot where the Devil loves to strike!

Shields Up!
Ok, I'll admit it. I'm a big time lover of scifi shows; well, some of them. I LOVE "Stargate SG1". It's the one that Macguiver's on. I just think that even with the "teddy bear" fights, the glowing eyes and the snake implants, it's still the best thinking man's scifi show out there.

And one of my favorite phrases of the Star Trek series is, "Shields UP!" which usually meant that the enemy was about to strike and if you didn't get those "shields" up, and I mean fast, you'd be toast!

Today I'm crying out to the Spirit Filled church to get our shields up to full strength and to get them up fast! The enemy of our souls, the enemy of the Spirit, has found a crack in the church, a crack in the arena of our worship.

Ok, I know this is not news to most of you. I don't mean to sound as if I have some new revelation that no one else has ever thought of or experienced. This battle over worship has been a hot object of prayer for the church since the early 90's at least.

But the thing that I am concerned most about isn't the wars that have been fought over the style of worship. My spirit is being broken over the heart attitudes of those who lead us in worship!

Ask any pilot and he or she will tell you that the attitude of your airplane will determine the altitude at which you will soar. The attitude of the airplane has to do with the position of the nose of the aircraft. If the nose is lifted HIGH, then you might climb higher in altitude, but only if you have sufficient power. Usually if the nose is lifted HIGH it will cause the plane to stall out and drop. Pilots have an old saying that goes something like this; "Keep thy air speed up (that is, apply enough power) or else the ground will rise up and smite thee!"

If you keep the attitude of the nose too low, you will certainly lose altitude and fall. You have to keep the attitude of the nose straight and level in order to fly an altitude that is straight and level.

Our attitude determines our altitude. How we think and act out our thinking will determine how high or low we soar for the Lord.

There's nothing more crash worthy for a praise band, a choir, the musicians or the worship leader than to have the wrong attitude. It will cast them downward in their altitude.

I truly believe that the leaders of our worship, and that includes the director, musicians and choir as well, our worship leaders must work at having a Spirit Filled attitude just like preachers and pastors must do as well. There is no difference! I have seen perfectly good presentations of the Word of God fall and crash and burn because the altitude of the worship before it was wrongly oriented in it's attitude. We have got to have the right heart condition in order for the Holy Spirit to use us in the Kingdom's work.

I know that we are struggling through many conflicts over the style of worship. Should it be all praise and worship, or should there be a mixture of hymns and choruses? These ARE important matters to define and respond to. But it doesn't matter if you have heavenly tongues with flames of fire spewing forth the most glorious of praise if the attitude of your heart is sinful and wrong.

What are some of the altitude course corrections that could be made by choirs and praise leaders?

Well, how about being personal worshippers of God for starters?

If you are not a person who worships God with genuine abandon, how are you going to lead me to worship that way? I'd rather have a half baked soloist who is short on talent but who has been with Jesus as a regular way of life than to have the greatest singer in all the world try to lead me in worship.

Then you've got to have your pride in check.

Most musicians are by nature very prideful. I believe in a healthy form of Godly pride. Or perhaps I might ought to call it confidence and determination rather than pride. But when you feel like you are the best musician or singer in the world and everyone else could learn a thing or two from you, you're walking on thin ice and lining yourself up with the attitude of Lucifer when he fell from the presence of God! A worshipper is one who gets into the presence of God. And to get into the presence of God humbles a man!

True worshippers are people of humility.

I think worship leaders need to have a healthy dose of the fear of God as well.

We worship God because we love Him, because we are grateful for what He has done for us in the death and resurrection of His Son. But I also freely admit that I worship God simply because He IS GOD! It's awfully hard to be prideful, self centered and have the wrong attitude of heart when you are bent over by the fear of God within His presence!

Having a Philippians 2 attitude is appropriate for worship leaders. Jesus had the attitude that though He was equal to God, He humbled Himself and took on the form of a man in order that He might be obedient to the death of the cross!

Wow! If you are a worship leader, you need, no you must have this attitude if you expect God to show up and show out in your presentation of worship! How can you soar with the altitude of a worshipper if you are disrespectful to another band member, or if you're mentally degrading the choir member standing next to you as being less perfect in performance than you? Or if you feel that your authority and performance as a worship leader/director would be better than the actual leader God has elected to serve? A Philippians 2 attitude like the one Jesus had puts the other person's needs before your own, it makes the other person more important in your estimation than you feel about yourself. If you expect to lead others in worship, you must be willing to be obedient to the very attitude that will usher in His Presence.

Shields up, my friend. The enemy of our souls is attacking the worship of the church. If he can win this battle, he will succeed in destroying the church altogether. But, I don't believe, I refuse to accept that the gates of hell shall ever prevail against us! Not if we keep the right ATTITUDE!

Worship is showing, telling and demonstrating to the Lord His WORTH to you. Dear worship leader, help US do this. Show us how someone can have an attitude that will raise our altitude where it needs to be so that we can show Him His worth to us!

Ask, Believe and receive His Fullness,
Brother Buster

You've Gotta Have the Spirit!

The challenge came from Nashville.....

I recently attended the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville where the president, pastor Bobby Welch issued the "Everyone Can Kingdom Challenge" to Witness, Win and Baptize a million souls to Christ in the next year! Some have called the new emphasis of soul winning in the SBC the "Acts 1:8 Challenge".

Acts 1:8 says, "After that the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you shall be witnesses unto me...."

I like the challenge of winning the masses to the Lord. I think we have lost the art of soul winning in our local churches. We've become so "seeker friendly" that we don't want to do anything that might run someone off.

But the reality of it all is that trying to win souls without doing so in the fullness of the Spirit is a joke!

Get excited about winning souls. I recently told my church that the Main Thing is to keep the Main Thing the Main Thing, and that I thought the main thing is to obey the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-19). If the church is to be about anything, it's to be about winning the lost.

But realize that the promise of the Father (Acts 1:4, 5) is that God will supply supernatural power for witnessing and winning the lost after His Holy Spirit has come UPON us. That's the "epi" experience ("epi" in the Greek designates the Spirit filling us, coming UPON us rather than IN us.) It's the filling of the Spirit that gives the power to win the lost. Never, never lose sight of that great truth.

Who would want to try to take on the task of evangelism without the power of God?

Brother B

It's Hearing with Faith that makes it all happen!

Man, was I ever relieved!

I was reminded of a great truth about the Spirit Filled life while reading a new booklet by Charles Stanley recently.

Charles has a new booklet out titled, "Living the Spirit Filled Life". In it he talks about how he used to beg, plead and cry out for the Spirit to fill his life. He was raised Pentecostal in denomination and they would have "tarrying meetings" where they would tarry before the Lord in hopes that they would cry out enough to get the Spirit! Charles came to see as an older Christian adult that the only thing required of us to receive the Spirit and His fullness was.......faith!

In Col. 2:6 we're told that, "as you have recieved Christ Jesus, so walk ye in Him...." How did you receive Christ Jesus? Well, we are saved by grace through ........FAITH! So, we are to also walk in Christ Jesus by.......FAITH!

I'm doing a study right now in the 3rd. chapter of the book of Galiatians where Paul asks the folks he's writing to, "who has so easily bewitched you?" The term "bewitched" means to be led astray by error. He goes on to ask the 6 million dollar question: "Did you receive the Spirit by keeping the works of the Lord or by the hearing of faith? Did God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the Law or by the hearing of faith?" ("the hearing of faith" means "Believing what you heard"!)

The obvious answer is that God gives His Spirit and He works miracles among us when WE BELIEVE WHAT WE HEAR, WHEN WE MIX THE PROMISES OF THE WORD OF GOD WITH OUR FAITH!

Brother, sister, If you aren't walking inthe fullnes of the Spirit of God tonight, move into that position by simply believing what God has said. What has He said? The Father has promised to give the Spirit to all who would receive by faith (Acts 2:38-39). It's His gift to us who believe.

Simply relax and receive the promise of the Father!

buster