Ralph Howe Ministries

Our Gospel, when received, believed, and released has the power to totally change lives and nations. The true Gospel - The Gospel of the Kingdom (Matthew 24:14) - can and does totally transform lives and defeats both the work of the devil and the works of the flesh. However, there are so many counterfeit (false) gospels being preached that the true Gospel of the Kingdom is often neglected and not known. It is time to hear the life-changing Gospel of the Kingdom and to experience, once again or maybe for the first time, the power of God unto salvation and all that ‘salvation’ includes.

As someone who came out of religion and was born again I have come to realize how much of what we do, as born again believers, is still religious. We simply now have a born again religion. Better than what we had but falling far short of the dynamic and powerful relationship we are called to as disciples of the Lord Jesus.   This weekend Ralph will be looking at four aspects of a life of faith - the Bible, Prayer, Fellowship, and Ministry. He will be examining each one comparing what religion asks of us with how things look from the vantage point of a relationship with God. You will discover how great a hold religion still has in your life. And, we will see the way to break the spirit of religion and the spirit of tradition and claim the freedom that a powerful relationship with the Holy Spirit can bring.

When looking at my own personal prayer life and talking with others about their time in prayer I realize that there is much we can learn from the Lord’s example. For many they pray the Lord’s Prayer from memory and simply repeat it word-for-word. I honestly don’t believe that this is what Jesus intended when He taught His disciples to pray. And, other, like myself, simply spend time petitioning God for things we need and want and interceding for others. This is good but is actually praying the Lord’s Prayer backwards.   An in-depth look at the Lord’s Prayer and how it should be guiding our personal prayer time and helping us to pray as the Lord directed. And, after all, He did say, “and when you pray, pray like this…”

As I teach various groups each week - in person and on-line, in my nations and other nations - I notice that a lot of young people are hungry for more of God. Of course there are also some who seem to be satisfied with where they are at in their walk with Jesus and lack a sense of spiritual hunger. Needless to say it is much easier to teach those who are hungry than those who are not.   So it got me to thinking and asking: “What Causes Hunger in a Believer?”

As we start a new year it is good to look at our personal life and the life of the Church. To enable us to do that in an orderly and constructive way we will be looking at what things are like “now.” Then what is “next” in the Kingdom and the Church and how will this impact our personal lives. As well, looking back, what is it that we should be careful “never” to do again. In other words, what lessons have we learned from 2021 that will help us in 2022.

This week Ralph will be wrapping up his Christmas series as we look at what it truly means to be loved by God and to love others because we know that we are loved. Last time we spoke about “affection” and the root words for love in the Latin are “caritas” meaning affection and “carus” meaning dear. These two words together form the basis for “charity” which is the KJV word for love.   “Charity” is a good word for love because it is a strong, proactive word. It describes an action - a charitable act of gesture, motivated by genuine affection and caring.   This week we will look at expressions of “charity” both current in the world today and in the Christmas story in the Bible among others. A in-depth look at what it means to love at this special time of the year.

This weekend Ralph will be sharing on “Reflection - Affection” as he continues to look at Christmas through the eyes of those who played a part in the original Christmas story.    In the midst of an always “too busy” season he wants to draw our attention to the whole idea of pondering or reflecting on the deeper meaning of the Christmas story and thus the way we celebrate the season. And, it is in reflecting and pondering that we come to experience affection - God’s affection and love for us and our affection or tender feelings toward others. 

Ralph will be looking at how with the advent of digital social media has come the white noise of everyone “expressing themselves.” As a result, silence is now a precious commodity, a scarce resource hard to come by. We have, in many ways lost that “inner stillness and silence needed to sense God’s presence and hear God’s voice.

Ralph will be looking at the simple yet profound way that Jesus changed the way we relate to the Father. When Jesus was born the way people connected with God was by going to the temple in Jerusalem. Throughout Jesus’ ministry He constantly directed people not to temple but to the table as He shared meals and fellowship with both believers and sinner. And yet today the church building (today’s temple) is still the center of spiritual life and fellowship with God. The temple - not the table.