Thunder Horse, Let's Ride!

Nothing says Christmas like a water buffalo. For a poor family in Asia, getting a water buffalo is like getting a farm tractor to pull a plow, or getting a milk truck full of delicious milk, or getting a stand at the market to sell cheese. A water buffalo opens the door for work, food, and income. More importantly, it opens the door to talk about Jesus.

And nothing says Christmas better than that. This is Robbie Dilmore from The Christian Car Guy and Kingdom Pursuit, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build a kingdom. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds.

Enjoy it and share it. But most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. Christ is absolute, transforming and restoring lives, healing hurt, and making all things new. This power set Michael Bowen free from the captivity, darkness, and hell of addiction, and delivered him back to God. This is Jesus Breaks the Chains. In love and in truth, this podcast is Thunder Horse.

Let's ride. I'm going to start with a reading of the Word from Revelations 2 verse 17. It says, On May 19, 2013, I was arrested for six felony counts of theft because I could not stop using drugs and stealing was the only way that I could pay for the drugs that I could not stop using. Once again, I'd relapsed on crack cocaine and was running wild through the city streets of Austin, Texas, stealing anything I could get my hands on so I could keep getting high. The devil had me convinced that I'd fallen so far and disappointed so many people that I could never return to them again, that I was hated by all. My life was a wreck. I was a mess.

My mind was shattered. I was overcome by drugs. I could not stop smoking crack cocaine. The demons of drug addiction tormented my mind continually, making me think I was worthless and a horrible person. I had abandoned my children, my family, all my friends. And at that point, nobody knew where I was for about three months. During this time, I was smoking crack, selling crack, stealing from businesses and people, and I had started shooting methamphetamine into my veins because I did not care anymore about my life. I was going to run it as far and as fast and get as high as I could before my certain end. You see, I believed that I was going to die and that it was the only way that I would ever stop using drugs, and I was okay with that.

I thought it'd be better if I were dead anyways. Once again, I had turned my back to my old ways of stealing to pay for the drug addiction that had consumed my life. I was living in my car and in crack houses and stealing anything I could get my hands on to keep the drugs flowing because I could not face the reality of my broken life. I was at the lowest point in my life.

Darkness, despair, hurt, loneliness. I was ready to end it all. I could not live another day addicted to drugs, but I couldn't stop using them. On that fateful day in May 2013, the day I now refer to as the day I was captured by God, my drug run came to an end, and I was handcuffed and placed inside of a police car and taken to jail. I went to court a few months later and was sentenced to one year in a Texas state prison. Once I got to prison, I was placed in a drug treatment program, and I began going to the prison chapel. One night during praise and worship, I found myself laying on my face on the prison chapel floor weeping and crying uncontrollably, begging Jesus to save me. I told Jesus that I hated myself and I hated this world that I did not want anymore. I told Jesus all I wanted was him. I said to Jesus that if I was going to leave this prison and go smoke crack cocaine again, then he just better kill me right then.

Right there on this floor, I'm ready to die. I told Jesus, but if you will save me, then I will serve you the rest of the days of my life. In a few moments, I was able to gather up enough strength to pull myself up off the floor, and when I was finally able to stand on my feet, that's when I felt his presence.

Oh, glory to God. And from that moment on, I've never had the desire to drink alcohol or use drugs ever again. Jesus broke my chains. Jesus set me free, and whom the Son makes free is free indeed. That's what my Bible says in John 836, one of my favorite scriptures.

I identify with that. Jesus set me free. Hallelujah. He'll set you free, too.

If you give your life to him like I gave my life to him that day in prison. A few days after my encounter with Jesus that radically changed my life, my recovery program counselor, Mrs. Bridges, gave our class an assignment. The assignment was this. She told us to write an essay.

The essay was this. If I was an animal, then I would be a... And then you were supposed to fill in the blank. We were supposed to write an essay about what kind of animal we would be if we were an animal. I thought, that's kind of cool. I wanted to explore that. She told us to think about it over the next few days, and then we would read our essays in front of the class. That next day, I began pondering the assignment and wondering what kind of animal would I be. In prison, one thing I always carried with me wherever I went was a journal.

I would write my thoughts, hopes, dreams, and inspirations in it throughout the day. On this day, I was walking from one part of the prison to another, and there was a long walkway that had a concrete sidewalk running down the middle of it with fencing and razor wire on each side. The prisoners called it the bowling alley because it was very long, and if you look down it, you would see a bunch of prisoners in their all-white uniforms at the end, and they looked like a bunch of bowling pins. So we called it the bowling alley. Well, this day, I was walking down the bowling alley.

The Lord began to speak to me, and he said this, If you were an animal, you'd be a horse, and you'd become my thunder horse. When the Lord said this to me, I immediately pulled out my journal and began to write as I walked down the bowling alley to another building on the other side of the prison. Once I got to the other side, I was stopped by a prison guard, and he told me that they were having a count, and I needed to sit down right then, right away in the hallway, and wait until the count was cleared. You see, in prison, the count, as it is called, is when they lock down the entire prison and do not allow any movement by anyone, so they can do a head count of all the inmates to make sure that everyone is accounted for and nobody is missing, that nobody's tried to escape or everybody's in the right place.

This can take a while, as you can imagine, because there are a lot of prisoners in a prison. Well, in God's perfect timing, I sat down in that hallway in a chair and began to write my essay, and I called it Thunder Horse. I began to write, and the words just poured out of me without any thought at all.

I knew this was coming straight from the Holy Spirit. I knew this was a revelation from God, because when I began to write, my handwriting had changed. What I mean by this is that my handwriting was different now than I normally wrote, than I had been writing my whole life. Before I sat down in that chair, I'd write with a mixture of upper and lower case letters and some cursive, just kind of a mix-match of different writings. It was my own personal writing style, but now my writing was all upper case letters with no cursive at all. The words were big and bold, and the words were jumping off the page in power and revelation.

It was unbelievable. As I sat there, I went into my own little world. I was deep in the spiritual realm, and the pen I was writing with was pouring out fire. I spent the entire count writing the essay and finished it just when the count was cleared.

Then the prison guard then told me to continue on where I was going. When I got up from that chair, I knew something big had just happened, but I did not know at the time just how big it actually was. You see, when I wrote the essay sitting there in that chair, I did not have time to read it, because it was coming out so fast. I did not understand the magnitude of what I had written until later when I got back to my dorm and sat down on my bunk and began to read it in its entirety.

Wow! My mind was blown. I could not believe what came out, what I just wrote, this story that I just wrote, really about myself.

But it was about a horse, and a horse that was running wild without any purpose in his life, all alone in a valley. And then God spoke to me. He gave me my new name and a new purpose in this fiery revelation. Oh glory to God. I'm going to share now this essay. It's called Thunder Horse.

Hallelujah. It starts like this. I am a fiery wild horse charging furiously alone across a high desert plateau, my home. It is a brisk day, and a cold nip is in the air. Breath, like billowing smoke, is pouring from my snorting nostrils as I eat up the ground in defiant rebellion. There is a mighty storm on the horizon brewing from the north as dark clouds accented with lightning and thunder began to fill the once calm air. I can feel the rolling thunder and the power emanating from the storm that is filling every part of my being. I am full of fear and excitement, the two things that I love the most, yet I cannot understand their meaning. So I do what I was created to do, which is to run, run fast, run hard, pound the earth and eat up the ground with an uncertain vengeance. This plateau is mine.

I own it and everything in it. This is where I thrive and where I've been made, wrought out of the dirt and the cold brisk air that make up my powerful body and unbridled spirit. The storm continues its onward approach, moving dreadfully across the plateau like a mighty advancing army kicking up dust as it were coming specifically for me. Not knowing why and against all sound reason, I turn, size up the storm and I charge, my hooves pounding, every muscle in my body responding to its call. I dig deep into the hardened earth, tearing up the sacred ground and I'm swallowed up in the midst of the storm's awesome presence. At once, a flash of white hot blinding lightning presents itself to me, followed by a loud crash of booming thunder. In an instant, I am stopped dead in my tracks in glorious fear. I rise to my powerful hind legs and paw frantically at the unsuspecting air.

What is this? I ask myself in frenzied wonder. It feels like a part of me. I recognize its strength, yet I still can't fully comprehend its meaning. Another flash, another roar of thunder and I'm settled back to the ground as I face off with the magnificent storm in a curious, fearful stare. A snort, a shake of my forceful head, a pall at the unyielding ground, I struggle to take in its awesome splendor with all of my wild senses.

I am drawn to it in amazement and succumb to it by fear. In power and overwhelming majesty, it wraps itself around me like a whirlwind as it moves through my soul, stirring every part of my inner being. At first, I struggle and strain as I feel it trying to bring me under its control. I fight for a moment in vain and then slowly I yield to its striking power as it begins to comfort me and speak to me with its still, soft, awe-inspiring voice.

One last snort, another final shake of the head and one more final attempt to buck. In an instant, I am settled in a blanket of warm understanding as I listen to his voice. With my ears pricked in fatal excitement and dangerous wonder, I finally hear what he is saying. From the words that were spoken to Job long ago, in the time of the ancients, the storm speaks unto me. Hast thou given the sore strength? Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper in spring and fear?

The glory of his nostrils is terrible. He pauleth at the valley and rejoiteth in his strength. He goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear and is not affrighted. Neither turneth he back from the sword. The quiver rattles against him the glittering spear and the shield.

He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage. Neither believeth he that is the sound of the trumpet. He sayeth amongst the trumpets, Ha ha! And he smelt the battle afar off.

The thunder of the captains and the shouting. Then the thunder roars again and he speaks to me this very truth. I am your father and you are my child. I created you and you belong to me. This plateau has been your teacher and your rebellion has been your song.

You have run the ground here unbridled and without cause and all of this because I would have it so. For my sake you are here. For my purpose you are alone on this plateau. For I created the wind on which you ride and the fire in your belly that makes you charge. I even created your rebellion for my purpose and now is the day I will reveal it to you.

You are my son. You are the son of thunder and the lightning is now your cause. The lightning is my power and now you will become fully aware of its purpose for you. From this day forward you have become my war horse and you will now obey my thunder. And you will now take my lightning and show it to this wicked world. For there is life for all in the lightning and the thunder chooses who it will give.

Now you know your purpose and now you will truly live. With my bridle in your mouth and my reins around your neck you will war no more for the world. Now you will war for me.

When I say go you will charge. When I say right you will turn. When I say snort you will shoot out your mighty breath and you will be heard. For I will speak through you and you will be in obedience to me and now you will live. Mighty war horse thunder in your mane.

Power in my name. Glory in your stride and mercy at your side. You will forever be on a new plateau I give you to reside. This will be your new home. A place where you can now roam. This plateau rests at the foot of my holy mountain.

A place you will never again have to run alone. For now my son, when it's time to run, Lord Jesus will mount up with a shout and say, Thunder Horse, let's ride. In this revelation from God I was given my new name, Thunder Horse. Thank you Lord for changing me and giving me a purpose. The word of God says therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. Old things have passed away behold all things have become new.

The old rebellious wild mustang drug addicted crazy man running wild through the city streets of Austin Texas is dead and gone. And the new creation in Jesus Christ Thunder Horse the disciple of Jesus Christ. The missionary in Liberia West Africa. The prison minister who goes in and preaches the gospel to men in prisons in the Texas prison system that are just like he used to be.

Is now riding with his king. Hallelujah. There is great power in a name. It says who we are. It's what we are known by to all those around us. Our names are important because they reveal who we are. They distinguish us from everyone else.

They identify us. When God changes someone's name it is to signify that he has changed that person's identity and made them a new creation. Abram means high father in Abraham means father of many. God changed Abrams name to Abraham is a sign of his promise to make Abraham a father of many nations. Sarah means my princess and Sarah means mother of nations. God changed Sarah's name to Sarah because he intended her to be the mother of many nations alongside Abraham. Jacob means the planner or to take the place of another through trickery or deception. And Israel means the one who strives with God. God changed Jacob's name to Israel after Jacob wrestled with an angel of the Lord.

And it marked a turning point in Jacob's life where he would become now the patriarch of the nation of Israel and the father of 12 sons who would become the 12 tribes of Israel. Simon means God has heard and Peter means rock. God changed Simon's name when he became a disciple to Peter and declared to Peter on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

It was a turning point in Peter's life where his identity was changed from being a fisherman to becoming a disciple of Jesus and the first leader of the early church. You see God changed my identity that day on the prison chapel floor when I cried out to him. It was a turning point in my life from being a drug addicted criminal into a spirit filled evangelist and disciple of Jesus Christ with power and a purpose. God gave me the new name Thunder Horse and told me to go and take his lightning which is his gospel and show it to this wicked world.

And that is what I do. Currently I preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in the Texas prison system and I'm also a missionary in Liberia West Africa and my mission field is in the drug infested cemeteries and ghettos where I go and also preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to those men and women who are lost in the captivity darkness and hell of drug addiction in that country. My King Jesus is great and and now when it's time to run Jesus will say to me Thunder Horse let's ride and we do an interesting fact about my handwriting. Since the day that I wrote Thunder Horse in that Texas prison sitting in that chair during count I have never returned back to my previous way of writing. Now all my handwriting is the same. I write everything all the time in uppercase letters and never write with lowercase or cursive letters since that day.

That is pretty cool to me. God even changed the way I write as a marker to remind me that I am changed and had a turning point in my life that day. He spoke to me my new name and purpose in the fiery revelation Thunder Horse. My hope for everyone listening to this podcast is that you realize you are new creation and God has given you a new purpose in him.

Put on the new man or woman and wear it out loudly and let the old man or woman pass away once and for all. Ask God to tell you what your new name is in him and he will reveal it to you in due time. I love you all and I pray that you too can find the freedom that I've found in Jesus Christ. Jesus breaks the chains. He is my king and I am his servant and I will serve him the rest of the days of my life. Like I promised him I would on that prison chapel floor. This is the greatest life I have ever lived.

Living my life in Jesus Christ. God bless you all. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Thank you for listening. For more information on Michael Bowen's ministry, Sons and Daughters of Thunder, visit sonsanddaughtersoffunder.org and remember there is no addiction in Jesus Christ. Jesus breaks the chains. This is the Truth Network