The consistent argument that is causing such division within the Body of Christ concerning the pandemic seems to be whether or not we truly love others. For if we did, we would wear masks, we would stay at home, and we would quietly obey our government. The presumption is that if we really cared about others, we would lay down our rights, turn the other cheek, and willingly submit to the governing authorities. Our sacrificial love for others has become the benchmark for those who claim to be Christian during the lockdowns and reopening of our country.
The problem with this line of reasoning is that compassion that is based on a lie – even half the truth – is not really God’s compassion. Love that is blind and unaware of all the facts opens a door to deception Continue reading →
I try not to dwell on disappointments. But there is one disappointment I think about a lot. In fact, it drives my motivation for ministry.
My great regret: I didn’t discover apologetics until I was in my early twenties.
My mission in ministry is to expose students to the rich intellectual resources Christianity has to offer.
I can’t change my past, but I can do my best to make sure this doesn’t happen to others. My mission in ministry is to expose students to the rich intellectual resources Christianity has to offer. Incidentally, there are a lot of really good apologetics works. My bookshelves are lined with them. Unfortunately, most of these works are not written for a younger audience.
I often get asked about which apologetics books I recommend for students. Here is the list I normally offer. Rather than overwhelm you with options, I’ve selected one book for each of the seven essential topics below. Continue reading →
Through our prayers we can shift the atmosphere over our homes, our cities, and our nation. Our corporate agreement in declaring God’s Word has power in the Spirit to change hearts, save lives, and establish Kingdom realities. But if we want our collective voice to have governing authority in the spirit, the Church must first establish itself as a house of prayer.
. . . My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations . . . (Mark 11:17).
Though it may look different from “house” to “house,” our role as a priesthood of believers is to establish a place of God’s presence. In 1 Peter 2:9 (KJV), we are called “. . . a chosen generation, a royal priesthood . . . .” This is part of our function as representatives of His Kingdom on the earth—to be ministers in the house of the Lord. We become witnesses to His presence and power as we minister before Him where we’ve been planted. Continue reading →
Is much chaos around you? Are you facing one challenge after another? Does hell seem to erupt against you in routine fashion? Do you see the world in greater levels of decay? The systems of men are dying; Babylon is falling and chaos spills over this planet is grand fashion. Could it be the chaos will get worse; the attacks against us more fierce? The answer is “absolutely!” Chaos is the new normal. “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds…” Again, chaos is the new normal, but His elect will stand up, stand strong, and stand out as lights in an ever darkening world. Masses will run to the light!!! Continue reading →
Life needs a center, a core, an axis to revolve around and anchor our physical and philosophical existence. Whether we like it or not, we all center our lives around something – it might be family, career, money, or sex, or ego, or an addiction. There is some element that will drive our life path forward toward good or ill, whether we’re conscious of it or not. So Christmas is a time to consider what we want the center of our lives to be, and we want a center we can trust. Continue reading →
A warning, speaking out in preparation for “the news”!
I’m pretty sure that the evil that is covering the nations today like a tsunami can not be “voted” away!
For many years people thought democracy was about the vote of the people and the “strength” of a society, but these days we sadly know better! Continue reading →
“No site in Jerusalem affected me more than the western wall.”
– Edward Wilmot Blyden (1866, African American Author; – From West Africa to Palestine; 245)
The Western Wall, sometimes called “The Wailing Wall”, is known throughout the world as a Jewish place of prayer. Jews have been praying here for centuries, still weeping over the destruction of the Temple or reciting ancient prayers, looking for the Messiah. Many will write their prayers on paper and stuff them in the cracks of the wall to keep their prayers continually before God. Continue reading →
Families are beginning to be drawn to come together and be brought back into God’s true order as the basic model for all governance and production in the kingdom of God.
Adversity and lack of wellbeing are negative factors that are being used as a trigger toward changing the hearts of many people. The stress, loneliness, sadness, and confusion of disorder turns the hearts of people to seek God’s order in life. The experience of love relationships is necessary for abundant, peaceful, and meaningful life.Continue reading →
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” — Matthew 18:15
It’s impossible to get through mature adult life without navigating personal oversights and offenses. No normal person enjoys conflict, and every normal person wishes they could avoid it. And many of us do our best to do so. But mature Christians in particular don’t have an option, biblically speaking, to live honestly and sincerely in the world.
Those of us who don’t enjoy conflict come up with a bevy of rationalizations to avoid the difficult conversation we know deep down we ought to have. Maybe we’ll make it worse. We might hurt someone’s feelings. Continue reading →
It’s amazing how well received you are if you play along and help maintaining the Old, although carrying the New.
But the moment they realize you didn’t come to confirm the Old but to Declare the New, silence and rejection becomes your part.
It’s hard when the values of the Old become strongholds that resist the New.
Defending the Old as being the Now means that the Old will always be old and only becomes older.
In the same time, declaring the Old as being the Not is declaring your Tree doesn’t has Roots and your House doesn’t has a Foundation.
Very few realize that there is a progress involved when we understand the renewal of the Old by embracing and recognizing the New.
Thinking generational means thinking progression, legacy and infinity.
And remember, Old is not Wrong but… Old and of course, New is not per definition Good, but just… New.
Old only become Wrong when its refuses to understand that it’s a stepping stone to the next level.
Generations are not a part of a repeating itself system but with deep honor involved to the values that are brought by the Old, a progressive process of Restoration and Renewal.
When we become part of the “Behold I will do a New thing”, we become part of a Kingdom bigger Perspective. We become part of the Taking back what the enemy has stolen.
When you become the Voice of the Old by rejecting the New, you become the personification of what is supposed to be a process, not a person.
“Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.“”
Jeremiah 1:4-10 ESV
…to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.
Every parent knows the desperation felt when a child is lost, wandering, or in crisis. Regardless of their age, when we see them heading towards destruction or in danger, we get on our knees and cry out for mercy on their behalf. Our fears of the worst are stirred and our imaginations can run wild.
For those interceding for this nation, the desperation is just as real. The rising tide of liberal leadership and anti-faith legislation is now at our front door. Ungodly laws being passed are threatening our safety and security and believers are seeing the spiritual battle as never before. A spirit of fear and terror is spreading across the land, and if we’re not careful, we will fall into its trap. Continue reading →
With the devastating power of a Tsunami, the daily attempt of the media to attack and control your soul is enormous and evil.
Watching the intensity of the process concerning the midterm elections and the past nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, it’s scary to see the reaction of a generation, emotionally rewired and controlled by a violent ideology. The moment, totally unexpected (except by those who “saw”) a man took office in America who was not part of the then ruling society, hell broke loose and all was blamed on the man. Respected Christian leaders started to express concern and used their positions to speak out against. As much as it revealed the hearts and agendas of the politicians, in the same time it revealed, all over the world, the way we as Christians dictated God how to do His job and how to serve our agendas. Continue reading →
Much of the western world has adjusted to bondage that gradually overtook them in the name of freedom. A false freedom of indulgence in carnality free from spiritual truth, love and righteousness has stolen the sanity of the confused once sound minds of the people. Many of the people of the nations are imprisoned in darkness of bondage apart from God. In general they have little or no respect for God or God’s people.
The world was in a similar state when Christ Jesus the Son of God became the Son of man and came to earth born of a virgin as a baby, a human being but without lineage to the Adamic fallen world. God came to earth in the body of a man to set the captives free and reclaim the world. The world was filled with darkness, from the lowliest beggar to the kings there was darkness. Even the Jewish Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious leaders of that season, were in darkness (John 8:44).
The light of God in Christ Jesus came to the world to overcome the darkness and set the people free to again walk in the light of the kingdom of God. Everywhere Jesus and His disciples went they encountered the darkness of demons and diseases. They brought healing and deliverance to all who came to Jesus the Son of God, the Light of the world.
A DAY OF DELIVERANCE TO FREEDOM
The prayers of the saints have been heard and the onslaught of wickedness against God and His people has been seen from heaven and blatantly exposed on earth. The purging of the religions that had replaced Christ Jesus as head are coming down and the false foundation that has been built is crumbling under the hammers of the persecutors. The nations are being shaken into rubble and eventually nothing that is lifted up against God shall stand.(Hebrews 12:26) (Isaiah 2)
IN THIS SEASON THE LIGHT OF THE SON OF GOD HAS ARISEN AND IS AGAIN BRINGING HEALING AND DELIVERANCE TO ALL WHO WILL COME TO THE LIGHT. THE GLORIOUS LIGHT OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS HAS ARISEN FROM WITHIN AND UPON A REMNANT ARMY OF PURE HEARTED HOLY SPIRIT FILLED PEOPLE WHO ARE THE BODY OF THE LIVING CHRIST ON EARTH WHO COUNT NOT THEIR LIVES TO BE THEIR OWN BUT THROUGH LOVE ARE BRINGING FORTH THE POWER OF GOD TO SET THE PEOPLE FREE.Continue reading →
A great and true post was put on facebook by a dear friend and brother in Christ today! I read it and my reaction is below, fully confirming the warning but adding some hopefully actions we can make in order to turn the tide!
Sverige! Sverige! Sverige! Det är tid att vända om. Sista tiden har ett flertal profeter talat allvarliga ord till vårt land. De har talat om att Sverige är under dom. Gud kommer att dömma vårt land om vi inte vänder om från den ogudaktiga väg vi nu går. Men om vi vänder om och ångrar det onda vi gör finns det hopp. Det är allvarliga ord som taltats till Sverige om att Sverige kommer drabbas av olycka men du ska veta att Gud inte gör detta för att han hatar oss utan det är för att han älskar oss och vill upprätta relationen med honom igen. Men om det ska behövas olycka för att vi ska börja söka Gud och hans vilja igen så är det inte mot hans principer att ge oss det. Det är högst bibliskt att han fostrar dem han älskar. Läs om hur han handskade med sitt eget folk. Ha detta i åtanke om när Gud dömmer vårt land. Börja inte anklaga Gud utan börja ångra det onda vi gör så är han nådefull och ångrar det han tänkt göra. SVERIGE VÄND OM. Börja ropa till honom. Sök hans ansikte. Sök hans vilja. VÄND OM. Continue reading →
Serving the God ‘who sees in secret’ in a world where there’s pressure to post everything.
Snap, post, chat, tweet, like, send—the gestures of social media, where a stubby thumb or an index finger is mightier than the sword and pen combined. Such is the world in which we live. However, one inherent weakness of social media is its inability to understand the beauty of hiddenness. In fact, there is nothing that I can think of that is more antithetical to the hidden than the proliferation of social media.
One inherent weakness of social media is its inability to understand the beauty of hiddenness.
The whole premise of social media is to reach as many people as possible, the more, the better. The frightening part about this logic is that it might be changing how we think about life. Can we enjoy a concert without capturing at least a part of it with our smartphones? Can we have a beautiful engagement without a hidden cameraman in the bushes to record the proposal? In short, without some sort of digital proof can something exist? It seems to me that it is increasingly impossible to conceive of something without footage. As the internet adage goes, “pics or it didn’t happen.” We seem to only value what can be witnessed by others or shared socially. Continue reading →
I felt to release this word over the intercessors today. All week long I have had a burning in my spirit for you as the Holy Spirit has been awakening my own desire to increase in my intercession, but also to call forth the intercessors that have become weary on the battlefield. I keep hearing this decree like a mighty thunderous shout that is resounding from heaven, “Intercessors, you are being called back to the frontlines.” I released this word at our church on Sunday and as I did, I saw a vision of intercessors in chains. I saw that minor distractions had been sent their way in an effort to engage them in insignificant battles. These distractions and trivial battles had led them to engage in the wrong fight relentlessly until they were exhausted. I saw them fall to the ground in a worn-out heap and I heard their unified sorrow as they cried, “we give up, we can’t keep fighting like this.” I then saw the enemy move in stealthily and chained their hands and feet and covered their mouths, he had planned to restrict their movement all along so they would be no longer free to engage in the real battle at hand. I then heard the Fathers roaring decree, “BREAK THE CHAINS in the Name of JESUS!” I saw angels of fire released from heaven at that moment and they flew at the speed of light, they came like blazing torches and they aided the intercessors by breaking their chains and helping them to stand with strength. In Cindy Jacobs book, ‘Possessing the gates of the enemy’, she writes, ‘in a time of war, it is the generals who make the battle plans.’ I believe the enemy has been targeting the intercessors in this hour in an attempt to disorientate, disunite and disengage them from the battle in order to prevent them from making strategic battle plans for the army of God. Continue reading →
The time had arrived; a time looked forward to by Joshua and Caleb, who for forty years had been waiting for that great day of promise. A promised time from God had now arrived, a time when the Israelites were to enter the land God had promised to Abraham and his descendants. While Joshua and Caleb had remained faithful to God’s promised inheritance to the children of Israel, the remaining ones of Israel were but the offspring of those who had come out of Egypt and were now standing in their place of opportunity. The opportunity now available was one of entering the land of promise and taking hold of their inheritance. In this, Joshua speaks to the people in Joshua 3:5 by declaring, “And Joshua said to the people, sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you”. In requesting of the people to sanctify themselves, Joshua was asking the people to separate themselves from wilderness doubts and everything that was unclean to devote themselves wholly and completely to God. Continue reading →
The worldwide powerful move of the love and fire of God will not primarily be fueled by the current on-fire, kingdom-minded people of God. THEY WILL BE THE IGNITERS OF THE FIRE.
HOWEVER, THE GREAT GLORIOUS LOVE FIRE IS COMING FROM THE IGNITED DRY WOOD AND DEAD FOLIAGE OF THE RELIGIOUS MASSES.
The coming great worldwide powerful revival that leads to the kingdom of God on earth is primarily fueled by the currently cold and lukewarm religious people.
The cold hard religious are those who by strong and even murderous force coerce and control the people as they build armies and seek to control the world. They hold fast to their religious traditions of some truth mixed with traditions of men infested with doctrines of demons. (Matthew 24:12, 13:15, 23:13) (1 Timothy 4:1-3) (Mark 7:6-9) (Colossians 2:8-10). Continue reading →
Mighty warriors who desire to go deeper are teachable. As we study the life of Abraham, we can plainly see why he was so blessed. More than anything else, he valued instruction and a willingness to keep the commandments of God. Such a desire is much more than just a willingness to listen. We become teachable when our desire to receive wisdom is greater than our desire for comfort.
“Integrity is the glue that holds our way of life together. We must constantly strive to keep our integrity intact. When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.” (Billy Graham)
There is a quality of spirit deep within the heart that desires a much deeper Christian life. This quality is worth more than great riches, the rarest jewel, or even the greatest talent. It is the quality of a teachable spirit.
Valuing Instruction
“Are we diligently seeking God’s best in our lives, refusing to compromise our integrity and character?“
Mighty warriors who desire to go deeper are teachable. As we study the life of Abraham, we can plainly see why he was so blessed. More than anything else, he valued instruction and a willingness to keep the commandments of God. Such a desire is much more than just a willingness to listen. We become teachable when our desire to receive wisdom is greater than our desire for comfort. Continue reading →
