Relational Strength for the Holidays

12.1.2024

Introduction

How do you handle being around all kinds of people that don’t think or act like you?

Christmas is traditionally a holiday when we enjoy the company of family and friends.

We eat, we talk, we laugh, we remember, and hopefully, we relax.

Right now, there is a good bit of polarization among people worldwide.

There are conservative Christians and liberal Christians. There are denominational Christians and non-denominational Christians.

There are vaccinated vs. the unvaccinated. There are mask-wearers and those who don’t.

Then there are political issues. Republicans, Democrats. Those in the MAGA movement and those who despise Trump.

There are capitalists, socialist, communists, and Marxists.

And there is a chance during the holidays that you will be in a room where there are lots of differences.

What is the will of God for you in these situations?

Don’t try to win the argument. Win the heart.

Romans 12:18 (NKJV)

If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.

Some people seem to thrive on controversy.

Romans 12:18 (NCV)

Do your best to live in peace with everyone.

Romans 12:18 (PHILLIPS)

As far as your responsibility goes, live at peace with everyone.

Matthew 7:6 (NKJV)

Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

Matthew 7:6 (NIV)

Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (MSG)

Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (TPT)

Now, even though I am free from obligations to others, I joyfully make myself a servant to all in order to win as many converts as possible. 20 I became Jewish to the Jewish people in order to win them to the Messiah. I became like one under the law to gain the people who were stuck under the law, even though I myself am not under the law. 21 And to those who are without the Jewish laws, I became like them, as one without the Jewish laws, in order to win them, although I’m not outside the law of God but under the law of Christ. 22 I became “weak” to the weak to win the weak. I have adapted to the culture of every place I’ve gone so that I could more easily win people to Christ. 23 I’ve done all this so that I would become God’s partner for the sake of the gospel.

Paul was advocating for feeling the environment that you are in and seeking to adjust what you reveal and how you reveal yourself.

And with this idea of relating to others, we have the commandment to love!

John 13:34-35 (NLT)

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

1 John 3:14 (NLT)

If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead.

Romans 5:5 (NKJV)

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (TPT)

Love is large and incredibly patient. Love is gentle and consistently kind to all. It refuses to be jealous when blessing comes to someone else. Love does not brag about one’s achievements nor inflate its own importance. 5 Love does not traffic in shame and disrespect, nor selfishly seek its own honor. Love is not easily irritated or quick to take offense. 6 Love joyfully celebrates honesty and finds no delight in what is wrong. 7 Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops believing the best for others. Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up.

During this holiday season, let’s let love win!

Here is another angle to be aware of during the holidays:

Holidays are a tough time for many people when they are reminded of life changes, such as the death of a family member, or a divorce, or for some, something like moving to a new city or state where they have no family.

For some people, when you get together with relatives and friends, and there has been past tension in these relationships, it makes the social setting awkward.

For others, mental and emotional baggage from past events keeps them from enjoying today’s moments.

We all must be willing to confront past mental and emotional pain.

Here is some help!

Philippians 3:13 (NIV)

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

Forgetting (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)

to lose out of mind; by implication, to neglect: — to be forgetful of.

We must purposefully choose to “lose out of the mind” those hurts or angering things that produce unforgiveness about issues in our past.

Good mental health, lives in the present not the past, and anticipates a positive future!

Hurt is another word for anger!

Emotional pain does not go away alone.

Many people think that if they ignore mental/emotional relational weights that they will just lessen, and eventually go away.

They do not go away. They become internalized and cause additional problems!

2013 – tooth after biking accident.

Burying mental and emotional pain (anger) hardens us to God’s presence and to closer, richer fellowship with the people in our lives.

Mental and emotional pain (anger) is tied to unforgiveness that we hold towards family, friends, and even God, when life events disappoint us.

If we choose not to forgive, a root of bitterness could spoil relationships

Hebrews 12:15 (NLT)

Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.

* Bitter Root Judgments

Anger and resentment at what someone has done to you, with an undertone that they owe you something because of what they did.

Because of this, you expect the same thing that happened in one relationship to happen in another. This causes a sour attitude towards the offender and eventually spills over into other relationships.

* Bitter Root Expectations

You look for others to do to you what the offender has done, or you expect the offender to repeat the offense over and over.

Exaggerated responses often indicate emotional/mental struggles that may stem from unforgiveness!

I have had to deal with forgiving people who have hurt me in my past if I want to rid myself of bitter roots that weigh down my emotions.

* My 1st girlfriend ran away and got married to someone else!

* People who were not honest with promises made to me.

* People who rejected me as a child – produced a fear reaction when their challenging opinions disagreed with my own.

How to be freed from bitter roots:

1. Make a list of the people you may see over the holidays, and where you may hold an offense.

Remember that every relationship leaves a mark on my life.

The degree that the relationship affects me is determined by:

1) its depth (how close I am to the person) and

2) its intensity (how frequently I interact with the person).

2. Take one person at a time and ask the Lord to show you any unresolved issues in your mind towards the person.

As Christians, we often think we forgive others when we really don’t go back and deal with the detailed thoughts about a relationship that have left a “print” on us.

3. Make any judgments you have towards a person into one-sentence statements. Include the event that occurred, and also how it made you feel.

Lord, when _______ did _______, it made me feel _______. I forgive ______ for what he/she did, and choose to forgive them completely. He/she owes me nothing.

4. Confess to the Lord what you have judged the person for, and how what they made you feel. Ask Him to forgive you for judging the person. Then tell the Lord that you forgive the person and that you release the judgments that you have against them by faith.

For deeply emotional issues, you may need another person with you to help you and to identify with you as a human who has been wronged by another.

Action Points:

1. Do you have family and friends that have hurt you?

2. Are you willing to give up your “right” to hold offense towards them?

 

Thank You Lord!

11.26.2024

Deuteronomy 8 (MSG)

1-5 Keep and live out the entire commandment that I’m commanding you today so that you’ll live and prosper and enter and own the land that GOD promised to your ancestors. Remember every road that GOD led you on for those forty years in the wilderness, pushing you to your limits, testing you so that he would know what you were made of, whether you would keep his commandments or not. He put you through hard times. He made you go hungry. Then he fed you with manna, something neither you nor your parents knew anything about, so you would learn that men and women don’t live by bread only; we live by every word that comes from GOD’s mouth. Your clothes didn’t wear out and your feet didn’t blister those forty years. You learned deep in your heart that GOD disciplines you in the same ways a father disciplines his child.

6-9 So it’s paramount that you keep the commandments of GOD, your God, walk down the roads he shows you and reverently respect him. GOD is about to bring you into a good land, a land with brooks and rivers, springs and lakes, streams out of the hills and through the valleys. It’s a land of wheat and barley, of vines and figs and pomegranates, of olives, oil, and honey. It’s land where you’ll never go hungry—always food on the table and a roof over your head. It’s a land where you’ll get iron out of rocks and mine copper from the hills.

10 After a meal, satisfied, bless GOD, your God, for the good land he has given you.

11-16 Make sure you don’t forget GOD, your God, by not keeping his commandments, his rules and regulations that I command you today. Make sure that when you eat and are satisfied, build pleasant houses and settle in, see your herds and flocks flourish and more and more money come in, watch your standard of living going up and up—make sure you don’t become so full of yourself and your things that you forget GOD, your God, the God who delivered you from Egyptian slavery; the God who led you through that huge and fearsome wilderness, those desolate, arid badlands crawling with fiery snakes and scorpions; the God who gave you water gushing from hard rock; the God who gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never heard of, in order to give you a taste of the hard life, to test you so that you would be prepared to live well in the days ahead of you.

17-18 If you start thinking to yourselves, “I did all this. And all by myself. I’m rich. It’s all mine!”—well, think again. Remember that GOD, your God, gave you the strength to produce all this wealth so as to confirm the covenant that he promised to your ancestors—as it is today.

19-20 If you forget, forget GOD, your God, and start taking up with other gods, serving and worshiping them, I’m on record right now as giving you firm warning: that will be the end of you; I mean it—destruction. You’ll go to your doom—the same as the nations GOD is destroying before you; doom because you wouldn’t obey the Voice of GOD, your God.

* * *

Psalm 50:14 (NKJV)

Offer to God thanksgiving,

And pay your vows to the Most High.

Psalm 92:1 (NKJV)

It is good to give thanks to the LORD,

and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

Psalm 100:4 (NKJV)

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Psalm 105:1 (NKJV)

Oh, give thanks to the LORD!

Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples!

Psalm 107:1-2 (NKJV)

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever. (2) Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,

Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,

Ephesians 5:20 (NKJV)

Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Colossians 1:12 (NKJV)

Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Colossians 2:6-7 (NKJV)

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, (7) rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 3:15 (NKJV)

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Colossians 4:2 (NKJV)

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving

Hebrews 13:15 (NKJV)

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Definitions

Thanks:

An expression of gratitude: acknowledgement especially by words of a benefit received from or offered by another.

Thanksgiving:

A public acknowledgement or celebration of Divine goodness and mercies.

 

Make Thanksgiving A Way Of Life

11.24.2024

Introduction

Since it is Thanksgiving week, I felt that we should talk about it today!

Giving of thanks should be a regular part of your life! And, not just over your meals or on Thanksgiving Day!!

How much giving of thanks do you do?

Psalm 50:14

Offer to God thanksgiving,

And pay your vows to the Most High.

Psalm 92:1

It is good to give thanks to the LORD,

and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High

Psalm 100:4

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Psalm 105:1

Oh, give thanks to the LORD!

Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples!

Psalm 107:1-2

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,

The First Thanksgiving

This Thursday we celebrate a mostly American tradition of Thanksgiving.

The Pilgrims endured a terrible winter after they arrived here in 1620.

Quote:

(From The Christian History of Thanksgiving by Dr. Eddie Hyatt).

America’s national “Thanksgiving” holiday is rooted in the nation’s Christian origins and the habit of its first immigrants to set aside special days for giving thanks to God for His goodness and blessings.

This custom can be traced back to the Pilgrims who landed at Cape Cod in November of 1620, who periodically would set aside days in which to offer gratitude to God for His mercy and blessings.

This custom was carried on by succeeding generations and found its way into the national consciousness and calendar.

The Pilgrims who landed on Cape Cod in November of 1620 were devout followers of Christ who had left the comforts of home, family and friends to pursue their vision of a renewed and reformed Christianity.

They were not whiners but chose to maintain a positive attitude even through the most trying times, such as the winter of 1620-21 when sickness ravaged their community and half of them–about fifty—were taken away in death.

The first Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims after they had gathered in their harvest in the fall of 1621, about one year after their landing at Cape Cod. Although their hearts were still heavy from the losses suffered the previous winter, there were at least three areas for which they felt particularly grateful to God.

With the arrival of spring the sickness that had immobilized the community and taken many of them in death had lifted. Their health returned, and although sad from their losses, they were able to apply themselves to carving out a home in the New England wilderness.

With the arrival of spring, God providentially sent to them an English-speaking Native American, Squanto, who became their interpreter and guide, helping them establish friendly relations with Massosoit, chief of the Wampanoag, the nearest and most powerful tribe in the region. In March of 1621 they had signed an agreement of peace and mutual aid with Massosoit, which resulted in both peoples moving freely back and forth in friendship and trade.

Through hard work and Squanto’s advice about farming and fishing (they were mostly townspeople and craftsmen) they experienced abundant harvests during the summer and fall of 1621.

Even though they still felt the loss of so many friends and family members, they could see God’s hand of mercy sustaining them in the preceding months. So after gathering in their fall harvest, which was abundant, Governor William Bradford designated a Day of Thanksgiving during which they would pause to offer up thanks to God for his mercy and blessings. They were not whiners. They knew what it meant to “count their blessings.”

We too need to set aside a time for the giving of thanks just like the first settlers in 1621.

Thanksgiving is now a Federal holiday in America, a holiday with distinctly Christian roots. President Franklin Roosevelt signed a resolution on December 26, 1941, establishing the fourth Thursday in November as the federal Thanksgiving Day holiday.

As the years have passed, we as a nation have become entitled to prosperity and blessing. We feel like it is owed to us.

Once you’re blessed, maintain it with a thankful heart!

Deuteronomy 8:10-18 (NKJV)

When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you. 11 “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— 17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ 18 “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”

I cannot count on my fingers and toes the number of people I have known through the years who have been blessed by God, and then just got slack and allowed the enemy to rob them, and they eventually fell away from God.

It is so easy to get absorbed with the busyness of life and fail to remember what got you to where you are!

What do you do when you are blessed by God?

Do you give thanks?

Only one leper came back to thank Jesus for his healing.

Luke 17:11-19 (NKJV)

Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

14 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. 17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

What do you do when God answers your prayers, or heals your body, or helps you in your finances or in your business?

I make a practice of thanking God every single day!

The first step away from God is a lack of gratitude!

Taking for granted what you have removes God from the center of life.

Romans 1:20-25 (NKJV)

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Lack of thankfulness courts darkness and depravity.

Lack of giving thanks opens us up to pride and self-sufficiency, thinking that we can manage life well without God’s help.

The road to defeat and personal harm begins when we think we can make it in life without God’s help.

For many years I have started my day in my prayer time taking some time to thank God for who He is, for my salvation, for the baptism with the Holy Spirit, for health, for a clear mind, for answered prayer.

Do you take time everyday to thank God? You should!

Giving thanks should be at the heart of our relationship with Jesus!

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV)

In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (AMP)

In every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (CEV)

Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do.

We don’t give thanks for everything, but in everything.

Ephesians 5:20 (ESV)

Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Colossians 3:17 (NKJV)

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Hebrews 13:15 (NKJV)

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Once you pray in faith and expect God to answer, let the rest of your communication about that request be thanksgiving!

Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV)

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6 (WNT)

Do not be over-anxious about anything, but by prayer and earnest pleading, together with thanksgiving, let your request be unreservedly made known in the presence of God.

Most of the time, I pray one time and then spend the rest of the time in praise!

Like the transmission on your car, don’t stay in first gear! First gear spiritually is asking for something. But after asking, go to the next gear: praise, worship, and thanksgiving.

It will speed up the process!

Examples:

Job:

I started practicing this in earnest right after Susan and I were married and moved to Oklahoma.

I spent weeks looking for a job. I prayed, and then spent considerable time thanking God for the job!

Psalms 106:12 (NKJV)

Then they believed His words; They sang His praise.

The flu:

March 1995 I was attacked severely with flu symptoms. I canceled my schedule for the day and planned to stay in bed. The Lord spoke to me to get up and praise and thank Him for healing me! Within the hour the symptoms left!

A building for a church.

My granddaughter’s healing.

Sometimes you can pray too much! Switch from praying to thanksgiving for what you’ve asked!

New Testament Scripture:

Colossians 1:12

Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Colossians 2:6-7

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 3:15

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Colossians 4:2

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.

Hebrews 13:15

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Make giving thanks a part of your daily routine!

Action Points:

1. Do you ever take for granted the things you have – your salvation, your family, your health, your provision?
2. How often do you make it a practice to give thanks to God for what He is to you and what He has done for you?
3. How often, after praying in faith, do you switch over to thanksgiving as you wait for the answer?

 

America, This is Not a Time to be Spiritually Slack

11.10.2024

Introduction

This is not a time to be spiritually slack and nonchalant! This is a crucial time of challenge and change.

It just may be that God has allowed the election to go the way that it did so that there can be one more thrust of evangelism before the rise of antiChrist and the global government, and the return of Christ!

Unless the hearts of the people in America change, our nation will go right back to where it has been!

Don’t use this time to kick back spiritually!

God wants to wake us up!

The only way for America to remain free from the global agenda of control and the Antichrist spirit that has risen worldwide is for us to recognize God and His kingdom in Christ.

In the prophet Amos’ day, Israel was spiritually asleep and not dealing with the serious issues of the day.

They had become spiritually slack and lazy. They were not seeking first the kingdom of God!

Amos 6:1 (NLT) What sorrow awaits you who lounge in luxury in Jerusalem, and you who feel secure in Samaria! You are famous and popular in Israel, and people go to you for help.

Amos 6:3-7 (NLT)

You push away every thought of coming disaster, but your actions only bring the day of judgment closer. 4 How terrible for you who sprawl on ivory beds and lounge on your couches, eating the meat of tender lambs from the flock and of choice calves fattened in the stall. 5 You sing trivial songs to the sound of the harp and fancy yourselves to be great musicians like David. 6 You drink wine by the bowlful and perfume yourselves with fragrant lotions. You care nothing about the ruin of your nation. 7 Therefore, you will be the first to be led away as captives. Suddenly, all your parties will end.

God has perhaps given us a reprieve from global control. The question is, will it last?

If our hearts do not change, we could go right back to the immorality we have been immersed in by our national leadership, and will lose the freedoms we may have gained.

Now is the time for us to wake up. God wants to do something fresh in our nation!

Ephesians 5:11-14 (NKJV)

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”

Wake up!

We just had what many say is one of the most significant elections in our lifetime this past week.

Donald Trump won in what some term as a landslide.

He had 312 electoral votes, and he won the popular vote.

The American people have spoken in the election that they want change.

Our economy is in trouble, many saying a deep recession or even a depression is looming.

Our southern border has been open, allowing people from all over the world access. They have been taken all over the nation and are being placed in hotels and given government money.

We are close to war with Russia over Afghanistan; Israel and its neighboring countries are in conflict, if not all out war, and we have pledged our support in helping them. Taiwan is being threatened by China, and we have pledged our help. Then North Korea is aiding Russia in the war with Afghanistan.

Inflation has resulted in prices rising by 25% or so, causing many to struggle to provide for their families.

Perversion has become a part of our morals, with homosexuality, lesbianism, transgenderism and such being taught and paraded in front of our innocent children at an early age.

Freedom of speech has become limited by guards being placed on social media so that certain themes cannot be mentioned publicly. Our new media has become controlled by a certain few and has become a propaganda tool.

Our national problems have resulted in an election that has turned the office of president, the Congress, and Senate over to the Republicans.

The majority obviously like the election results. Others don’t.

We need to be careful in our approach to the issues we face as a nation!

God has given us an opportunity to go another direction. What will we do with it?

What will you do with it?

Listen to God’s perspective on all of this”

Proverbs 14:34 (NKJV)

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

Psalm 33:12-22 (NKJV)

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen for His inheritance. (13) The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. (14) From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth; (15) He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works. (16) No king is saved by the multitude of an army; a mighty man is not delivered by great strength. (17) A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength. (18) Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, (19) To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. (20) Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield

Deuteronomy 30:19 (NKJV)

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.

Isaiah 1:19-20 (NKJV)

If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; (20) But if you refuse and rebel you will be devoured by the sword, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Our nation was founded on a Judeo-Christian ethic (The Ten Commandments) and in many ways, we have chosen to depart from that ethic.

That departure from a moral compass has brought us to where we are today.

We have set aside that which made us great. Our sin is our undoing.

The undoing began when we chose to remove the influence of prayer in our public schools, when we removed the Ten Commandments from public view, when our churches chose to preach a watered down message that attracts large crowds instead of bringing conviction to sin and challenge to a reprobate lifestyle, when we chose to go mainstream with sexual immorality, homosexuality, lesbianism, transgenderism, and when we chose to indoctrinate our school children in filthy lifestyle choices. We have murdered over sixty million of our children through abortion. Life in America has become diluted from living to help others to narcissism and self pleasure at the expense of future generations.

To many, money, things, and entertainment have become the central goal in life.

Pleasing ourselves has taken the place of pleasing God.

We are on the edge of financial collapse. The family, consisting of a male and female in marriage bearing children who are raised in a nurturing environment, is being challenged.

Our military is but a shadow of what it was.

Some of our politicians are more interested in money under the table than truth and integrity. And, our enemies smell blood.

We are way past the ability of legislation and politics to save us from our own undoing.

Our ship of state in America has been sinking while some are trying to plug the holes in the vessel.

The only way forward is another Great Awakening such as we have had twice in our history.

A pig will never be a good house pet.

You cannot put a leash on a cat.

A lion will never make a good domestic animal.

And sinners who have a reprobate heart cannot keep a democratic republic without a relationship with God that curbs sin and promotes a selfless desire to put others’ and their needs above their own.

A change of heart is only available through Jesus Christ and the New Birth. We need an awakening.

Some quotes from over 200 years ago:

Listen to these quotes from our nation’s past that I have had in my archives for many years:

John Adams (2nd President of the USA)

1798 – Address to the Military

(http:patriotpost.us/fqd/results.asp, Reference: America’s God and Country (10-110)

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

John Adams

1776 – letter to Zabdiel Adams

(http:patriotpost.us/fqd/results.asp – Reference: Our Sacred Honor, Bennett, pg. 371).

Statesmen my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand….The only foundation of a free Constitution, is pure virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our people, in a great measure than they have it now, they may change their rulers, and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty.

Here is a quote from atheist John D. Steinrucker in a 2010 article for the American Thinker: (from I Never Thought I’d See The Day! Culture at the Crossroads – by David Jeremiah (New York, New York: Hachette Book Group, 2011), p. 28).

It is rational to conclude that religious faith has made possible the advancement of Western civilization. That is, the glue that has held Western civilization together over the centuries is the Judeo-Christian tradition. To the extent that the West loses its religious faith in favor of non-judgmental secularism, then to that extent, it loses that which holds all else together…

Although I am a secularist (atheist if you will), I accept that the great majority of people would be morally and spiritually lost without religion. Can anyone seriously argue that crime and debauchery (immoral self-indulgence) are not held in check by religion? Is it not comforting to live in a community where the rule of law and fairness are respected? Would such be likely if Christianity were not there to provide a moral and spiritual compass to the great majority? Do we secularists not benefit out of all proportion from a morally responsible society?

An orderly society is dependent on a generally accepted morality. There can be no such morality without religion. Has there ever been a more perfect and concise moral code than the one Moses brought down from the mountain?

Those who doubt the effect of religion on morality should seriously ask the question: Just what are the immutable moral laws of secularism? Be prepared to answer, if you are honest, that such laws simply do not exist! The best answer we can ever hear from secularists to this question is a hodgepodge of strained relativist talk of situational ethics. They can cite no other overriding authority other than of that fashion. For the great majority in the West, it is the Judeo-Christian tradition which offers a template assuring a life of inner peace toward the world at large- a peace which translates to a workable society.

Another Great Awakening

Our only hope is in God, our creator.

Now is the time to get involved and lead a move of repentance and humility if our nation is to survive. What we are dealing with is more than just America’s survival. We are dealing with the spirit of antiChrist prepping the world for a global control of politics, beliefs, finances, and religion. America and its constitution stands in the way. Once America’s influence is removed, global control will follow. And we will see come to pass what Jesus revealed in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, and what God revealed to the Apostle John in Revelation 6.

For the past two years my staff team here at Victory and congregation members have been praying for a great awakening in our nation and for God’s plans to be fulfilled throughout the world. We pray from 11:00 am until noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Join us! We are crying out for change and are praying for the lost to come to Christ. Pastors, I urge you to begin prayer meetings in your churches and praying for a spiritual awakening in our nation and world.

What God has allowed in this election with America resisting global control should wake us up to evangelize our neighbor!

God told Joel that there would be a fresh moving of the Holy Spirit before the Messiah returns:

Joel 2:28-32 (NLT)

Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike. 30 And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth— blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible day of the LORD arrives. 32 But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved, for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape, just as the LORD has said. These will be among the survivors whom the LORD has called.

Isaiah 60:1-3 (NKJV)

Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. 2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.

3 The Gentiles shall come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising.

Zechariah 10:1 (NKJV)

Ask the LORD for rain In the time of the latter rain. The LORD will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, Grass in the field for everyone.

Acts 3:19-21 (NKJV)

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

James 5:7-8 (NKJV)

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

2 Chronicles 7:14

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Action Points:

1. Are you at eaze in Zion (the church) while our nation is in a downward spiral?

2. Are you aware of our need to wake up and share Jesus with those in our social circle?

3. Are you asking God for a fresh move of the Holy Spirit?

4. Are you praying personally and attending prayer meetings and asking for fresh move of the Holy Spirit?

 

What Does the Bible Say About the Future of the World?

11.3.2024

Introduction

Jesus is coming back!

Daniel 7:9-10 (NLT)

I watched as thrones were put in place and the Ancient One sat down to judge. His clothing was as white as snow, His hair like purest wool. He sat on a fiery throne with wheels of blazing fire, 10 and a river of fire was pouring out, flowing from His presence. Millions of angels ministered to Him; many millions stood to attend Him. Then the court began its session,

and the books were opened…

Daniel 7:13-14 (NLT)

As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into His presence. 14 He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey Him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.

Acts 1:9-11 (NLT)

After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. 10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

1. We are living in the time in-between!

We are right at the end of the church age where we have been for 2000 years, and we are entering an age of judgment just before the Second Coming of Christ and His 1000 year rule we call the Millennium or the Millennial eign of Christ.

This is a volatile time, and God has given us grace to deal with it!

Vote this week if you haven’t already. What happens to you and your family and how the future plays out here in the USA is at stake in this election.

2. I want to first of all address what we are immediately dealing with in the USA.

Today and next week, I just want to give you a preview of things to come according to the Bible!

First of all, pray for our nation and its leaders!

1 Timothy 2:1-4 (NKJV)

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

When you pray each day, pray first of all for the nation you live in and its leaders!

Your praying makes a difference!

Let me address the election this week.

3. Five reasons why is it important for me as a Christian to vote:

1. God gave our forefathers a way to have a free country in a fallen world!
2. Our constitution affords us rights that are God-given so that we can be free to worship, free to voice our opinions, free to assemble, free to address our differences with the government when they arise, and free to defend ourselves from dictators who want to rule over us with an iron fist!
3. We have a responsibility to honor those who have sacrificed their time, their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor for freedom. How is it honorable to give away what cost those who lived before us so much?
4. To whom much is given much is required.

Luke 12:48 (NKJV)

For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

5. It is easier to preach the gospel worldwide from the vantagepoint of freedom.

4. We must keep in mind that a one-world ideology of leadership will eventually come to the forefront… Scripture says it will.

Revelation 13 mentions two beasts that arise in the time just prior to Jesus’ return.

The Beasts here are two people controlled by the satanic kingdom.

The beast from the sea (representing people) is the person we usually call antiChrist.

This is the world leader of the global system (AntiChrist).

Revelation 13:5-8 (NLT)

Then the beast was allowed to speak great blasphemies against God. And he was given authority to do whatever he wanted for forty-two months. 6 And he spoke terrible words of blasphemy against God, slandering his name and his dwelling—that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation. 8 And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made.

This is a religious leader (It may be the Pope!) He tells people to listen to the global leader!

Revelation 13:11-17 (NLT)

Then I saw another beast come up out of the earth. He had two horns like those of a lamb, but he spoke with the voice of a dragon. 12 He exercised all the authority of the first beast. And he required all the earth and its people to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 He did astounding miracles, even making fire flash down to earth from the sky while everyone was watching. 14 And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life. 15 He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die.

16 He required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. 17 And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.

This is the Global Reset that is being pushed by the elites of the world who control nations with money.

30 years ago it was spoken of as the New World Order.

World leaders are pushing for this and want America to join in. Some political leaders in this nation want us to join this reset. Others resist, pointing to our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Here is what I see, regardless of who is president.

If globally minded people are in the office of President, and control our Congress and Senate, then we will participate fairly quickly in a global reset. And that is where we are right now.

Financial freedom will continue to slowly dwindle away.

One world themes will emerge with urges for us to participate in global law and governance that does not involve our constitution and rights as US citizens (with an embrace of any lifestyle of your choosing); a global economy will emerge, with an eventual digital currency for the world; and global religion will come that reduces every religion to serving the same god. This will bring great persecution to Christians and Jews.

The WHO is pushing an agenda they want the US to enter into that will bypass our Constitution and Bill of Rights and force US citizens against their will to participate in certain things “for the health of all”!

There will be a LOT of pushback!

If Donald Trump wins the next election, we may have a delay before the USA joins the global community in all the ways I just mentioned.

People are really mad at Trump because he is not a globalist. He puts America first. He is a Constitutionalist. He is a nationalist. He believes in a country with defined borders, a clear history, and a set of autonomous governing laws ( our Constitution) And that is why so many of the elites in our country, including the news media, do not like him.

Either way, regardless of who becomes president in 2024, I see lots of fighting between two groups. God has called us in this time to be peacemakers.

Satan and his kingdom desire instability in America so that they can easily propagate their one-world ideology!

Resist the tendency to respond in anger right now, whichever way it goes.

Prepare your family for a time of relative instability.

Get close to your fellow Christians. We need each other now more than ever.

Nonetheless, the antiChrist spirit is prevalent worldwide right now, and will eventually gain traction. It is only a matter of time before the person that is the antiChrist appears on the world scene in the Middle East.

Some countries will resist.

Daniel 7:25-27 (NLT)

He will defy the Most High and oppress the holy people of the Most High. He will try to change their sacred festivals and laws, and they will be placed under his control for a time, times, and half a time. 26 But then the court will pass judgment, and all his power will be taken away and completely destroyed. 27 Then the sovereignty, power, and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be given to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will last forever, and all rulers will serve and obey Him.

Daniel 8:23-25 (NLT)

At the end of their rule, when their sin is at its height, a fierce king, a master of intrigue, will rise to power. 24 He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause a shocking amount of destruction and succeed in everything he does. He will destroy powerful leaders and devastate the holy people. 25 He will be a master of deception and will become arrogant; he will destroy many without warning. He will even take on the Prince of princes in battle, but he will be broken, though not by human power.

5. The last generation before Jesus’ return will have something in common with Noah!

Luke 17:26-35 (NLT)

When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 27 In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building—29 until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day a person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return home. 32 Remember what happened to Lot’s wife! 33 If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it. 34 That night two people will be asleep in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding flour together at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.

During Noah’s time, there was a proliferation of wickedness brought on by the intermarrying of angels and humans.

This created a race of giants that literally filled the earth and began to dominate the human gene pool.

This is what precipitated God sending a flood to kill man and animals and start over with Noah and his family.

The human gene pool had been corrupted.

The fallen angels propagated perversion and occult practices to the human race.

They taught the human race different kinds of warfare technology and introduced instruments of war.

They filled the earth with lust and violence.

What we see now is just the beginning of this all over again.

Sexual perversions are increasing.

Violence is reaching a fever pitch.

New technologies are seeking to integrate the human with implants that change DNA to increase wisdom, mobility, and longevity.

We are going in the same direction as Noah’s day!

Keep yourself and your family!

Seek God and pray!

6. Ask for a fresh move of God in your life, in your family, and in the world.

Jesus is coming perhaps sooner rather than later!

Isaiah 60:1-3 (NKJV)

Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. 2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. 3 The Gentiles shall come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Joel 2:28-32 (NLT)

Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike. 30 And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth— blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible day of the LORD arrives. 32 But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD

will be saved, for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape, just as the LORD has said.

These will be among the survivors whom the LORD has called.

Action Points:

1. Are you praying for your nation and its leaders before anything else?

2. Are you being responsible for your God-given freedoms by voting?

3. Are you preparing you and your family for instability?

4. Are you seeking God wholeheartedly and asking God for spiritual revival?

 

How to Get Unstuck in Life

Cameron Peedin

10.27.2024

Have you ever felt like you were stuck in a rut, either spiritually, emotionally, or relationally? Do you feel like there is no momentum or forward motion going on in your life?

Maybe you feel stuck in your career or you’re stuck in a specific sin, you’re bored with your calling, your family, your friendships, etc.

We’re going to talk about this today and how to get unstuck and get back to living the life God intended us to live.

Our Inside Matters More Than Our Outside

Many of us look for things around us to change in order to feel better about our lives or situations we are facing.

As a society we concentrate more on the outward things rather than the inward things.

What needs to change is what’s inside you. What I mean by that, is a heart and mind change.

Jer. 17:9 (NLT)

The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?

There are changes on the inside of you that only God can change and that only He can do, but we play a part in all of it.

God is limitless in power and can do exceedingly more than we can ask or think.

Ephesians 3:19-20 (NLT)

May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

When you think you’ve given God your wildest dreams, you haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of who He really is and His capability to work in your life.

Some of us are not living life to the fullest because we focus all of our attention on changing the environment around us – what we feel and see, and refuse to allow God to change us on the inside – what we think and meditate on.

What I see going on around me and my environment is proportionate to what’s going on inside of me. If my environment is chaotic and stressful, it’s because my insides are chaotic and stressful.

Also, if there is nothing going on inside of you, there tends to be nothing going on around you. Life will seem boring and unproductive.

When there’s nothing going on around us, we have the tendency to forcefully move things around us to get things moving on our own, when in reality, if we start changing things inside us, things around us will inevitably start to change outside.

What’s in you affects what’s around you.

If the word of God is nowhere near you or inside you and if the presence of God is not in you, you will not be effective to the environment around you and everything will seem to be chaotic and out of control.

There are people who let the storms of life get in them, and everything around them is chaotic and becomes a storm, or they create a storm out of nothing. Do you know people like that? Could it be you?

What’s in you becomes your environment.

The law of attraction. Birds of a feather flock together. You attract what you are on the inside. This can be a good thing or a bad thing.

How do I fix this? First I have to go to my power source and let God renew me on a daily basis by His Word and His spirit and transform me into a new person by the way I think.

Rom. 12:2 (NLT)

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

There must be times of personal revival and refreshing in His presence on a regular basis. If you do not have that, you will have no change or momentum in your spiritual life and you will feel stuck.

Daily disciplines in your relationship with Him must be kept fresh and new; then everything around you will have a fresh new perspective and outcome.

Surrounding yourself with leaders and friendships that expand your horizon will give you a fresh perspective where their thoughts and perspectives challenge you. If you’re never challenged, you will never grow.

“You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read” Charlie Jones

Implementing this into your life will constantly reset the parameters of your mind, pushing you forward to the newness of life and your fullest potential.

If you reset the parameters of your mind long enough, you will eventually reset the parameters of your life. Eventually, you will be able to do things that you never imagined you could do.

God Expects Fruitfulness

God is a God Who is always expanding, multiplying, building, and creating.

Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Gen. 1:28 (NKJV)

Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

John 15:5 (NLT)

Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

God knows that you need things. There is nothing wrong with having things. You just don’t let things have you.

When things have you is when it becomes unbalanced. “Things” can not become your pursuit.

God should be your priority and your main pursuit in life. He will give you the things that you need as you pursue Him and the things you don’t need won’t really matter.

Those “things” could be a new career, solid relationships that sharpen you mentally and spiritually, a confidence in yourself that you’ve never had, etc.

There are times in your walk with God that you will be tested and tried.

To get the fruit that God wants from you, sometimes you will have to go through trials and tests from the Father in order to prune us.

These pruning times are no fun at all. If we do not allow God to prune us, we will remain stuck in the same old mindset, that same old offense, that same old addiction for the rest of our lives and nothing will change.

What God does to bless you will take you to the very edge sometimes of your will and patience.

If we pour the Word of God into our minds and constantly meditate on it, it has the potential to completely set us free from the stickiness of life.

There is a sacrifice that we have to make in obedience to God. We have to be obedient to what He is speaking to us. Sacrifice and obedience is hard at times. It is taking up your cross and bearing some pretty hard stuff at times.

Luke 14:27 (NLT)

And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

Luke 9:23-24 (NLT)

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. But in the end, there’s good work that you can look back on and say, “Look what God did in me.

God is a God of reward; it’s not just tests and trials.

Hebrews 11:6 (NLT)

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

All life is choice-driven.

God is an “if then” God. “If you… then I’ll”. God responds when we do His will, hard or easy. We have to make the first step toward Him or step out of “the boat” per se, and He promises to meet us there.

God Inspects for Fruitfulness

John 15:1-2 (NLT)

I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.

According to this verse you’re pruned if you do, pruned if you don’t. Either way, you’re getting pruned.

If you aren’t bearing fruit, He’ll cut you> And if you are bearing fruit, He’ll cut you even more so you can bear more fruit.

It’s never God’s will for you to be stuck in your life. It’s our choice to be stuck.

Parable of the 10 servants in Luke 19:11-26

God came to inspect the fruit of what had been given.

One had doubled it.

One had earned 5 to the 10.

One had nothing and buried the talent.

1st Servant:

Luke 19:17 (NLT)

Well done!’ the king exclaimed. “You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.”

Luke 16:12 (NLT)

And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?

Whatever you do, serve to the best of your ability, even when it’s not your own. This way when God entrusts you with something of your own, the hard work you’ve done in a business or ministry that was someone else’s, you will reap in your own life.

Have or create good work ethics.

Faithfulness Is the Principle for Movement

It’s not a skill set, it’s not a personality profile, it’s not education, or achievements that God can work with in a person’s life. It’s faithfulness!

Faithfulness in little things is essential to being promoted into bigger things. Why? Because you can be trusted. If you cannot be faithful with little things, God cannot trust you with more.

If you can’t tithe off of $1000, why would he give you a million?

If you have a staff of 5 and don’t treat them right, why should God promote you with a fortune 500 company?

If you’re wanting to be a pastor of your own church one day but you’re not faithful to the church God has planted you, stirring up gossip and division, why would He trust you with your own congregation? What you sow, you will reap.

Galatians 6:7 (NLT)

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.

God is looking at all these things before promotion. Can He trust you?

For some, people are praying for their ship to come in, and in the waiting won’t row that little boat God gave them.

Whatever you’ve been given to do, do it as unto Jesus.

Colossians 3:23 (AMP)

Whatever you do [whatever your task may be], work from the soul [that is, put in your very best effort], as [something done] for the Lord and not for men

Your reward doesn’t come from people. Your reward comes from Heaven.

Eph. 6:8 (NLT)

Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do…

If you were to serve people as if they were the embodiment of Jesus Himself, how would you serve and treat them? I truly believe that it would change our church and society dramatically.

Jesus speaking:

Matthew 25:35-36 (NLT)

For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.

The greatest thing I can do is help another person’s dream come true.

Our Vision Statement:

Helping people become who God created them to be!

The characteristic of forward movement is concentrating on the betterment of others, rather than yourself.

You’re never stuck in life, you’re only stuck in your mind.

If there’s ever a time when you feel stuck in life, it’s a time when you quit learning. Always have the mindset of learning something new, whatever it may be. A new life skill, a new revelation of God, a new side hustle, a new hobby, etc.

When you quit challenging your mind, you will inevitably be stuck.

When you get into a state of mind of continuously doing the things that you know to do, things that got you where you are, you will be successful. And you will stay there or be promoted.

When you do not continue the things that got you where you are, or quit implementing godly character into your life that perhaps you had at the beginning, you become stale and stuck in your walk with Him and in life.

If there’s nothing fresh going on inside of you, there’s nothing fresh that’s going to be flowing from you.

You can’t run on the smoke of yesterday’s fire.

There’s a form of Godliness with no power.

2 Tim. 3:5 (NLT)

They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

We can speak truths about God’s Word, when in reality our personal well is running on empty.

Learn how to dig for yourself another well. 2 Tim. 1:6 “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you…” Learn how to be a student again. Look for ways to fill your mind with good things that propel you into the direction you need to go in life and in God.

Your mind is the factory for change.

What happens in your mind happens in time. This may take a few weeks, months or even years. But changing the things that you put into your mind will gradually start to change your life in a dramatic way. Take one day at a time.

You can’t choose the thoughts that run through your head, but you can choose what you focus and meditate on.

Prov. 23:7 (NKJV)

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…

If I want to change my reality, I have to change my thought-life first. My thought-life directly affects my reality.

What are you thinking about?

When was the last time you put a new idea into your head and took time to actually think it out?

When was the last time you risked something on a new idea you had or came across? Are you open to new ideas, or are you stuck in the same old way of doing things?

Are you open to listening to different people, or do you only listen to your own ideas or the same people you’ve listened to?

Allow God to Dig and Fertilize Your Life

Parable of the fig tree:

Luke 13:6-8 (AMP)

Then He began telling them this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree that had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, but did not find any; 7 so he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and have found none. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground [depleting the soil and blocking the sunlight]?’ 8 But he replied to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, [just] one more year until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; 9 and if it bears fruit after this, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”

Reality speaking:

This tree is a taker, not a giver. This tree is sucking all my resources dry. It’s killing all of my crops because it’s sucking the nutrients dry. Cut it down and throw it out.

Mercy speaking:

Vs. 8 is God’s mercy: 8 “The gardener answered, ‘Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. 9 If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.’”

Justice says you’re a taker. If someone else was in your position, they’d be doing more. They’d be doing better.

Mercy says there’s more things that need to happen in this person’s life that may have not happened yet. 8 But he replied to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, [just] one more year until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; 9 and if it bears fruit after this, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”

 

God’s next stage in your life is to make it unstable. The fig tree needed to be dug around and fertilized. It needed to be unstable for a bit.

Many of us have had a pretty stable cushy life. God needs to shake us up.

Hebrews 12:27 (NLT)

This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.

The key to getting the tree healthy again is to create instability around it. When you cause instability, you cause the roots to become unstable and dig deeper to get solid again and go to a part of the earth that has not already been drained of its nutrients, so up through the roots and through the branches it can produce again.

The foot that used to be stable isn’t stable anymore. People aren’t stable who you used to depend on. Things that you used to do don’t seem like they’re working anymore and everywhere you look, God’s creating instability, to the point you have to depend on Him and Him alone.

Don’t be scared of this. This is called a deeper depth of the roots of your faith, and out of that will come a fruitfulness that your last season has never produced.

You know what fertilizer is? Animal dung. God says, I’m going to create instability and throw dung on you.

Philippians 3:8 (KJV)

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ

I count it all as fertilizer. God will take the (dung) of life and cause it to grow and mature you. There are things in life that the only way you will grow is if you go through some dung.

What does fertilizer do? It increases the potential of something it’s placed on.

Instability and unpleasant circumstances cause roots to grow and release a greater potential in your life, so that you create fruit again.

You are going to be unstuck in this situation in your life.

Action Points

1. Redefining the parameters of your mind and your thought life.
2. Examine your environment. Your environment is a reflection of who you are on the inside. Maybe it’s time for God to start a change on the inside of you to affect your environment around you.
3. Examine the fruitfulness of your life. Focus on what’s fruitful, and allow God to lope off unfruitful habits or relationships in your life.
4. Instability is not a bad thing. Allow God to dig around and fertilize you through the unstable circumstances you’re experiencing that will eventually produce the best possible potential of fruit in your life.

 

Not a Time To Compromise!

What About Halloween and the Christian?

10.20.2024

God has equipped us with His protection and His power!

Ephesians 6:10-18 (ERV)

To end my letter I tell you, be strong in the Lord and in his great power. 11 Wear the full armor of God. Wear God’s armor so that you can fight against the devil’s clever tricks. 12 Our fight is not against people on earth. We are fighting against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness. We are fighting against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly places. 13 That is why you need to get God’s full armor. Then on the day of evil, you will be able to stand strong. And when you have finished the whole fight, you will still be standing. 14 So stand strong with the belt of truth tied around your waist, and on your chest wear the protection of right living. 15 On your feet wear the Good News of peace to help you stand strong. 16 And also use the shield of faith with which you can stop all the burning arrows that come from the Evil One. 17 Accept God’s salvation as your helmet. And take the sword of the Spirit—that sword is the teaching of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times. Pray with all kinds of prayers, and ask for everything you need. To do this you must always be ready. Never give up. Always pray for all of God’s people.

There is an all-out assault on everything godly today.

Our freedoms are on the line.

Our ability to speak freely is on the line.

Our families are on the line.

Our children are being offered as a sacrifice to the gods of deception and sex.

To be nonchalant is to give up in the middle of a fight!

We are not in a physical war, but we are in a spiritual battle!

The spirit of Antichrist is loose worldwide, looking for a global government to lead every nation politically, financially, morally, and spiritually.

The motive behind this spirit of Antichrist is to replace God and His Son Jesus Christ with a new set of standards for living and relating to one another.

Demon spirits that promote immortality in every form and that promote lawlessness are seeking entrance into American life just like they are in the rest of the world!

The goal is for all to be the same. Everyone exactly equal. No one having more than another, and all being told by this global government what they can do, say, think, and value, and what they cannot do.

The goal is a complete absence of morals. Anybody can live any way they choose. Lying, cheating, stealing, lusting, all forms of sexual behavior as legit, and all bowing to the will of the global government for the greater good, and for world peace.

It is a trick, a lie, a ruse, and a scheme to rob God of His place and His Son’s place in the world!

Resist this in how you live, what you value, how you train your children, and how you vote.

1 John 2:18 (NKJV)

Deceptions of the Last Hour

Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.

1 John 2:22-23 (NKJV)

Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

The following verses are so applicable today:

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (NLT)

Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. 16 For I command you this day to love the LORD your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.

17 “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, 18 then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.

19 “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! 20 You can make this choice by loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the LORD, you will live long in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Take your authority in Christ seriously today!

Don’t allow Satan and his forces to run over you and you family. Fight for what is right.

Stay silent and you loose what God has given you!

We have spiritual authority over Satan and his forces.

Luke 10:19 (NKJV)

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Matthew 18:18-20 (NKJV)

Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.

Matthew 18:18-20 (CEV)

I promise you that God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth, but he will not allow anything you don’t allow. 19 I promise that when any two of you on earth agree about something you are praying for, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20 Whenever two or three of you come together in my name, I am there with you.

Colossians 1:12-13 (NKJV)

Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

Colossians 1:13 (AMP)

The Father has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

James 4:7 (NKJV)

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you!

James 4:7 (ERV)

So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil, and he will run away from you.

Ephesians 4:27 (NKJV)

Nor give place to the devil.

Ephesians 4:27 (ERV)

Don’t give the devil a way to defeat you.

Place:

(Rick Renner)

When Paul told us to give the devil no place, that word “place” is the Greek word topos. It describes a specific, marked-off location. But rather than a physical location that we use a map to identify, this “place” may refer to a rough spot in our relationships, our finances, our thoughts, or our personal habits or to lingering areas of disobedience. Whatever it is, it’s an identifiable location that the devil seeks to find and use as an open door into our lives.

— Sparkling Gems from the Greek Vol. 2: 365 New Gems To Equip And Empower You For Victory Every Day Of The Year by Rick Renner

https://a.co/29rLj6Q

Devil:

(Rick Renner)

The word “devil” in Ephesians 4: 27 leaves no question about the devil’s intention to attack us as believers. It is the Greek word diabolos, which is a compound of dia and ballo. The word dia means through, as in all the way through an object. This second part of the word “devil” is from the word ballo, which means to throw, to hurl, to inject, or even to beat. When these two words are compounded to form the word diabolos, the new word categorically means that the devil is one who strikes repetitiously—trying to find a way to break through into our worlds and mess up our lives.

— Sparkling Gems from the Greek Vol. 2: 365 New Gems To Equip And Empower You For Victory Every Day Of The Year by Rick Renner

https://a.co/eNDvR84

Be aware of the background of Halloween!

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there. 10 For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, 11 or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you. 13 But you must be blameless before the Lord your God. 14 The nations you are about to displace consult sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the Lord your God forbids you to do such things (Deuteronomy 18:9-14, NLT).

I have noticed over the last several years that Halloween has become an overtly celebrated holiday in America with houses being decorated with ghosts and goblins, witches and black cats, Jack-O-Lanterns on the steps, along with lots and lots of blow-up items for the yard and lights in the front yard.

To top it all off, families dress up their kids in their favorite costumes and trick or treat at all the places where candy can be retrieved as a “treat.”

Schools favor the holiday, and offices and businesses frequently allow the costumes to be worn too.

I have some questions.

Should I as a believer dress up my house and yard in Halloween decor just like my neighbors?

Is it appropriate for my kids to dress up for Halloween?

I as a child did what every other child in the 1960’s did at Halloween.

I dressed up like a devil or a skeleton or a ghost or whatever and did the normal trick or treat thing. We were good Baptists, and didn’t think a thing about it.

Our Baptist church celebrated Halloween with all kinds of spooky rooms decorated to scare the daylights out of the kids. After all, it was all fun and play!

Really, it was nothing serious, right?

After I was genuinely saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, I look back with great surprise on what I did as a child, and at what my church and other Christians in my circle allowed on Halloween.

Susan and I raised our children to honor God, and to dislike all things demonic and satanic. We did not celebrate Halloween.

Today, these things are freely celebrated among Christians.

Here are a few things to think about today as our culture celebrates Halloween.

What would it look like if you flew a Nazi swastika on your property during World War ll?

People would think you were nuts, and you would be. What if you flew an ISIS flag on your porch?

Hopefully you are smarter than that!

What signals are we sending to our kids when we allow them to dress up like the enemy of our souls one day out of the year?

And what does it say to our enemy satan and the hordes of demons that do his bidding when we dress up our yards and homes with replicas of the dead, of witches and demons and ghosts and all things spooky?

We can’t see them, but they must be quite entertained at our lack of seriousness about the spiritual battles we face!

And you better know they feel the permission to visit these homes and families and kids that innocuously celebrate Halloween.

For the origins of Halloween historically through the centuries and its celebration here in America, check out this hyperlink from the University of Albany:

https://www.albany.edu/~dp1252/isp523/halloween.html

All things satanic are forbidden to be practiced by the people of God in the Old Testament. I have traveled a good bit in Africa and India, lands where superstitions and all sorts of demonic practices are woven into the fabric of their cultures.

And I have seen how demonic power has wounded these beautiful people.

Americans are naive to the dangers of the demonic world.

Deuteronomy 18:9-14 (NLT)

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there. (10) For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, (11) or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. (12) Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you. (13) But you must be blameless before the Lord your God. (14) The nations you are about to displace consult sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the Lord your God forbids you to do such things.”

Demon influence and possession are real.

I have cast these foul entities out of people.

They are not nice. They want to steal from you.

They want to kill you and destroy the peaceful life you have.

They wants to fill your body with illness, your mind with confusion, your marriage with trouble, your relationships with strife, your community with anarchy and lawlessness, and they want you to go to hell. You want all that?

I have nothing to do with them, and you would be wise to walk with Jesus and cleanse your home of any demonic symbols and rituals, and not just at Halloween, but all the time.

And we should teach our children to steer clear of these things. And we should teach them to honor God, to love His Word, and to believe His promises, and to ACT like Jesus!

Action Points:

1. Am I aware of the authority that Jesus has given me over Satan and the demonic realm?
2. Do I actively resist Satan in his kingdom’s desire to invade my life and my family?
3. Am I giving Satan a place in any area of my life to hinder me in my walk with God?
4. Am I modeling to my family and children what it looks like to resist the devil and have nothing to do with him?

Endnotes

Old and New Testament Scriptures:

Here are scriptures from the Old and New Testaments where God encouraged His people to have nothing to do with any kinds of demonic activities. We would do well to listen and obey them today. King Saul in Israel sought counsel from a witch in Endor. It eventually cost him his life. Read with interest.

Deuteronomy 18:9-14 (NLT)

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there. (10) For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, (11) or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. (12) Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you. (13) But you must be blameless before the Lord your God. (14) The nations you are about to displace consult sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the Lord your God forbids you to do such things.”

Leviticus 18:1-5 (NLT)

Then the Lord said to Moses, (2) “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. I am the Lord your God. (3) So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life. (4) You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God. (5) If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them. I am the Lord.

Galatians 5:19-21 (NLT)

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, (20) idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, (21) envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 10:19-21 (NLT)

What am I trying to say? Am I saying that food offered to idols has some significance, or that idols are real gods? (20) No, not at all. I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate with demons. (21) You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too.

Ephesians 6:10-18 (NLT)

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. (11) Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. (12) For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

(13) Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. (14) Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. (15) For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. (16) In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. (17) Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

(18) Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Revelation 22:15 (NLT)

Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.

Leviticus 20:6-7 (NLT)

I will also turn against those who commit spiritual prostitution by putting their trust in mediums or in those who consult the spirits of the dead. I will cut them off from the community. 7 So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I am the Lord your God.

1 Samuel 28:5-22 (NLT)

When Saul saw the vast Philistine army, he became frantic with fear. 6 He asked the Lord what he should do, but the Lord refused to answer him, either by dreams or by sacred lots or by the prophets. 7 Saul then said to his advisers, “Find a woman who is a medium, so I can go and ask her what to do.”

His advisers replied, “There is a medium at Endor.”

8 So Saul disguised himself by wearing ordinary clothing instead of his royal robes. Then he went to the woman’s home at night, accompanied by two of his men.

“I have to talk to a man who has died,” he said. “Will you call up his spirit for me?”

9 “Are you trying to get me killed?” the woman demanded. “You know that Saul has outlawed all the mediums and all who consult the spirits of the dead. Why are you setting a trap for me?”

10 But Saul took an oath in the name of the Lord and promised, “As surely as the Lord lives, nothing bad will happen to you for doing this.”

11 Finally, the woman said, “Well, whose spirit do you want me to call up?”

“Call up Samuel,” Saul replied.

12 When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed, “You’ve deceived me! You are Saul!”

13 “Don’t be afraid!” the king told her. “What do you see?”

“I see a god coming up out of the earth,” she said.

14 “What does he look like?” Saul asked.

“He is an old man wrapped in a robe,” she replied. Saul realized it was Samuel, and he fell to the ground before him.

15 “Why have you disturbed me by calling me back?” Samuel asked Saul.

“Because I am in deep trouble,” Saul replied. “The Philistines are at war with me, and God has left me and won’t reply by prophets or dreams. So I have called for you to tell me what to do.”

16 But Samuel replied, “Why ask me, since the Lord has left you and has become your enemy? 17 The Lord has done just as he said he would. He has torn the kingdom from you and given it to your rival, David. 18 The Lord has done this to you today because you refused to carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites. 19 What’s more, the Lord will hand you and the army of Israel over to the Philistines tomorrow, and you and your sons will be here with me. The Lord will bring down the entire army of Israel in defeat.”

20 Saul fell full length on the ground, paralyzed with fright because of Samuel’s words. He was also faint with hunger, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night.

21 When the woman saw how distraught he was, she said, “Sir, I obeyed your command at the risk of my life. 22 Now do what I say, and let me give you a little something to eat so you can regain your strength for the trip back.”

2 Kings 21:6-7 (NLT)

Manasseh also sacrificed his own son in the fire. He practiced sorcery and divination, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. He did much that was evil in the Lord’s sight, arousing his anger. 7 Manasseh even made a carved image of Asherah and set it up in the Temple, the very place where the Lord had told David and his son Solomon: “My name will be honored forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem—the city I have chosen from among all the tribes of Israel.

The History of Halloween:

https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween

Halloween is a holiday celebrated each year on October 31, and Halloween 2024 will occur on Thursday, October 31. The tradition originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints. Soon, All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a day of activities like trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns, festive gatherings, donning costumes and eating treats.

What is the History of Halloween?

Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago, mostly in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1.

This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes.

When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

Did you know? One quarter of all the candy sold annually in the U.S. is purchased for Halloween.

By A.D. 43, the Roman Empire had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the 400 years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of bobbing for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

All Saints’ Day

On May 13, A.D. 609, Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome in honor of all Christian martyrs, and the Catholic feast of All Martyrs Day was established in the Western church. Pope Gregory III later expanded the festival to include all saints as well as all martyrs, and moved the observance from May 13 to November 1.

By the 9th century, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, where it gradually blended with and supplanted older Celtic rites. In A.D. 1000, the church made November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. It’s widely believed today that the church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, church-sanctioned holiday.

All Souls’ Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. The All Saints’ Day celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day) and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-Hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.

How Did Halloween Start in America?

The celebration of Halloween was extremely limited in colonial New England because of the rigid Protestant belief systems there. Halloween was much more common in Maryland and the southern colonies.

As the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups and the American Indians meshed, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. The first celebrations included “play parties,” which were public events held to celebrate the harvest. Neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each other’s fortunes, dance and sing.

Did you know? More people are buying costumes for their pets. Americans spent some $700 million on costumes for their pets in 2023—more than three times what they spent in 2010.

Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds. By the middle of the 19th century, annual autumn festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere in the country.

In the second half of the 19th century, America was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing the Irish Potato Famine, helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally.

History of Trick-or-Treating

Borrowing from European traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today’s “trick-or-treat” tradition. Young women believed that on Halloween they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings or mirrors.

In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers than about ghosts, pranks and witchcraft. At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties focused on games, foods of the season and festive costumes.

Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything “frightening” or “grotesque” out of Halloween celebrations.

Because of these efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.

Halloween Parties

By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a secular but community-centered holiday, with parades and town-wide Halloween parties as the featured entertainment. Despite the best efforts of many schools and communities, vandalism began to plague some celebrations in many communities during this time.

By the 1950s, town leaders had successfully limited vandalism and Halloween had evolved into a holiday directed mainly at the young. Due to the high numbers of young children during the fifties baby boom, parties moved from town civic centers into the classroom or home, where they could be more easily accommodated.

Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was also revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats.

Thus, a new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday after Christmas.

All Souls Day and Soul Cakes

The American Halloween tradition of trick-or-treating probably dates back to the early All Souls’ Day parades in England. During the festivities, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called “soul cakes” in return for their promise to pray for the family’s dead relatives.

The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as “going a-souling,” was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food and money.

The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightening time. Food supplies often ran low and, for the many people afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant worry.

On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits.

On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter.

Black Cats and Ghosts on Halloween

Halloween has always been a holiday filled with mystery, magic and superstition. It began as a Celtic end-of-summer festival during which people felt especially close to deceased relatives and friends. For these friendly spirits, they set places at the dinner table, left treats on doorsteps and along the side of the road and lit candles to help loved ones find their way back to the spirit world.

Today’s Halloween ghosts are often depicted as more fearsome and malevolent, and our customs and superstitions are scarier too. We avoid crossing paths with black cats, afraid that they might bring us bad luck.

This idea has its roots in the Middle Ages, when many people believed that witches avoided detection by turning themselves into black cats.

We try not to walk under ladders for the same reason. This superstition may have come from the ancient Egyptians, who believed that triangles were sacred (it also may have something to do with the fact that walking under a leaning ladder tends to be fairly unsafe). And around Halloween, especially, we try to avoid breaking mirrors, stepping on cracks in the road or spilling salt.

Halloween Matchmaking and Lesser-Known Rituals

But what about the Halloween traditions and beliefs that today’s trick-or-treaters have forgotten all about? Many of these obsolete rituals focused on the future instead of the past and the living instead of the dead.

In particular, many had to do with helping young women identify their future husbands and reassuring them that they would someday—with luck, by next Halloween—be married. In 18th-century Ireland, a matchmaking cook might bury a ring in her mashed potatoes on Halloween night, hoping to bring true love to the diner who found it.

In Scotland, fortune-tellers recommended that an eligible young woman name a hazelnut for each of her suitors and then toss the nuts into the fireplace. The nut that burned to ashes rather than popping or exploding, the story went, represented the girl’s future husband. (In some versions of this legend, the opposite was true: The nut that burned away symbolized a love that would not last.)

Another tale had it that if a young woman ate a sugary concoction made out of walnuts, hazelnuts and nutmeg before bed on Halloween night she would dream about her future husband.

Young women tossed apple-peels over their shoulders, hoping that the peels would fall on the floor in the shape of their future husbands’ initials; tried to learn about their futures by peering at egg yolks floating in a bowl of water and stood in front of mirrors in darkened rooms, holding candles and looking over their shoulders for their husbands’ faces.

Other rituals were more competitive. At some Halloween parties, the first guest to find a burr on a chestnut-hunt would be the first to marry. At others, the first successful apple-bobber would be the first down the aisle.

Of course, whether we’re asking for romantic advice or trying to avoid seven years of bad luck, each one of these Halloween superstitions relies on the goodwill of the very same “spirits” whose presence the early Celts felt so keenly.

The Origin of Halloween

https://www.albany.edu/~dp1252/isp523/halloween.html

Introduction Halloween or All Hallows Eve, as it is sometimes referred to, is a lot different now than it may have been celebrated many centuries ago. With October 31st coming around the corner, I thought it would be interesting to find out what the origins of Halloween were. Earliest Trace Peter Tokofsky, an assistant professor in the department of folklore and mythology in UCLA states, “The earliest trace (of Halloween) is the Celtic festival, Samhain, which was the Celtic New Year. It was the day of the dead, and they believed the souls of the deceased would be available” (Navarro). Samhain Samhain (pronounced sah-win or sow-in) means “summer’s end” by the Celts. In old Germanic and Celtic societies, what we call equinoxes and solstices marked the middles of the season, not the beginnings.” (Chamberlain) Therefore if there exist an autumnal equinox, winter solstice, spring equinox and a summer solstice, there are also the beginning of autumn, winter, spring and summer. All of these eight dates were important. Summer’s end which meant the beginning of winter was an important time for people who survived on plants grown in the field and animals that were kept in pastures. (Chamberlain) “This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death” (The History Channel Exhibits- History of Halloween) It is most likely this reason that the Druids (Celtic pagans) believed that the spirits of those who died the preceding year roamed the earth the night of Samhain (MSN Learning & Research- Halloween) Descriptions The Druids celebrated this holiday “with a great fire festival to encourage the dimming Sun not to vanish” and people “danced round bonfires to keep evil sprits away, but left their doors open in hopes that the kind spirits of loved ones might join them around their hearths”. On this night, “divination was thought to be more effective than any other time, so methods were derived to ascertain who might marry, what great person might be born, who might rise to prominence, or who might die” (Chamberlain). Also during the celebration, the Celts “wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes”. Crops were burned and animals were sacrificed (The History Channel Exhibits- The History of Halloween). The spirits were believed to be either “entertained by the living”, or to “find a body to possess for the incoming year”. This all gives reasons as to why “dressing up like witches, ghosts and goblins, villagers could avoid being possessed.” (Navarro ) Roman Influence By 43 AD, “Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory.” For the 400 years they occupied Celtic lands, two Roman festivals: Feralia (the commemoration of the passing of the dead) and a day to honor Pomona (the Roman goddess of fruits and trees). The apple served as a symbol for Pomona and which might have been incorporated into Samhain by the practice of “bobbing for apples” (The History of Halloween). Christian Influence When “local people converted to Christianity during the early Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church often incorporated modified versions of older religious traditions in order to win converts.” Pope Gregory IV wanted to substitute Samhain with All Saints’ Day in 835, but All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2nd) which is closer in resemblance to Samhain and Halloween today, was “first instituted at a French monastery in 998 and quickly spread throughout Europe” (MSN Learning & Research- Halloween). In the 16th century, “Christian village children celebrated the vigil of All Saints’ by doing the Danse Macabre. The Seven Brethren whose grizzly death is described in the seventh chapter of the deuterocanonical book of Second Macabees” is also said to have resulted in children dressing up in grizzly costumes to signify these deaths. (Thomas ) Modern Halloween Halloween came to the United States when European immigrants “brought their varied Halloween customs with them”. In the second half of the nineteenth century, America was flooded with new immigrants including the Irish fleeing from the potato famine in Ireland in 1846. By combining Irish and English traditions, Americans began the “trick-or-treat” tradition. In the later 1800’s the holiday became more centered on community and in the 1920’s and 1930’s, Halloween became “a secular, but community-centered holiday”. In the 1950’s leaders changed Halloween as a holiday aimed at the young to limit vandalism. This all led to what Halloween actually is like today. (The History Channel Exhibits: The History of Halloween)

Sources: A Reminder of Death. Navarro, Michelle. Oct. 1997. UCLA. 12 Oct. 2002. <http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/DB/issues/97/10.31/news.halloween.html> Halloween FAQ. Thomas, Patrick. 4 Nov. 1993. Rutgers University. 12 Oct. 2002. <http://www.cs.rutgers.edu/pub/soc.religion.christian/faq/halloween> History Channel Exhibits: The History of Halloween. 2002. The History Channel. 12. Oct. 2002. <http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/halloween/hallowmas.html> History of Halloween 29 Feb. 2001. Indiana University. 12 Oct. 2002. <http://www.iun.edu/~preprofn/Histroy%20of%20Halloween.htm> MSN Learning & Research- Halloween. MSN Encarta. 12. Oct. 2002. <http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761572079> The Origin of Halloween Comes Out of the Sky. Chamberlain, Von Del. State University of Utah. 12. Oct. 2002. <http://www.utah.edu/planetarium/CQHalloween.html> Other Related Links: Halloween Traditions around the World. Flowers, MaDonna. 28. June. 2011. Halloween Costumes Blog. <http://www.halloweencostumes.com/blog/post/2011/06/28/halloween-traditions-around-the-world.aspx>

 

30 Year Anniversary

10.13.2024

Life is a journey, not a destination!

Always learning, always growing, always changing.

Helping people become who God created them to be.

My heart for you:

Born Again

Spirit Baptized

Connect with others

Serve others

This has been my life.

Proverbs 16:3 (AMP)

Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.

Psalms 37:4 (NKJV)

Delight yourself also in the LORD,

And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

I gave my life back to Jesus Sept. 12, 1976, and received the BWTHS.

For my entire adult life, I have walked with God.

I was religious, I did not know God when I was young.

The Word of God transformed my life.

I was called to ministry in February of 1977.

Bible School, Marriage

I have been in ministry since October of 1981.

I actually started ministry OUT of the will of God. I was an associate pastor of a church in my home town after graduating from Rhema.

I found out during that time that God will bless His Word even though you may be out of place while preaching it.

Everything in life is a learning experience! I learned how to preach during that time.

I ministered healing to people with the laying on of hands; I preached every Sunday night.

I helped people receive the Baptism With The Holy Spirit.

We moved back to Tulsa in 1982.

I became a janitor at Grace Church after moving back, and eventually in 1984 I was promoted to the pastoral staff team doing personal ministry for the pastor.

That was my apprenticeship in ministry!

I learned the value of having a personal time with Jesus.

I learned the value of prayer.

I learned a lot about myself and how loving our Father is to us.

I learned a lot about people and how to deal with them.

I learned to believe the best in people.

I learned the importance of faithfulness and personal integrity.

1988 – Pioneering

In 1988, Susan and I, with two children and one on the way, moved to Mullins SC and started New Life Fellowship.

After a year and a half, I turned the church over to another pastor.

1990 – Traveling ministry.

Susan and I traveled for 2 years. I started a small business on the side to earn money to take care of my family.

1992 – Associate Pastor

In 1992, I became associate pastor of Abundant Life in my hometown, Florence, SC

In 1993 – I pastored Abundant Life Church in Florence, SC for the entire year while Carl Morris took his family to Lieopaja, Latvia for one year to start a church.

In November of 1993, I was praying and heard the words – already existing church – and knew that my next ministry move would be to take over an already existing church.

May 16th, 1994, I told Carl Morris, who had come back from Latvia, that there was a church somewhere that has no pastor and I am that pastor to take it over. That was the very day that this church lost its pastor.

The 2nd Sunday of October in 1994, I became pastor here.

God gave me a verse of scripture just for me:

Luke 16:10-12 (NKJV)

He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?

The Lord found me faithful in Tulsa.

I was faithful in starting the church in Mullins.

I was faithful in the traveling ministry.

I was faithful over another man’s church.

Now, I have been here for 30 years.

Helping people become who God created them to be,

My heart for you.

Born Again

Spirit Baptized

Connection with others

Serve others

 

Worldwide Change is Here!

10.6.2024

Introduction

Jesus’ return is the backdrop for the crazy time we are experiencing!

Jesus is returning to earth the second time!

Acts 1:9-11 (NLT)

After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. 10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

Ephesians 1:10 (J.B. Phillips)

For God had allowed us to know the secret of his plan, and it is this: He purposes in His sovereign will that all human history shall be consummated in Christ, that everything that exists in Heaven or earth shall find its perfection and fulfillment in Him.

During a transition time between King Saul and King David, the sons of Issachar had insight into the changes coming.

1 Chronicles 12:32 (NKJV)

…of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command;

1. We are living in between the age of Grace and the age of Divine Judgment.

We are right at the end of the church age where we have been for 2000 years, and are entering an age of judgment just before the second coming of Christ and his 1000-year rule we call the millennium or the millennial reign of Christ.

Hebrews 6 mentions some of the fundamental doctrines of scripture that we should be familiar with:

Hebrews 6:1-2 (NKJV)

Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

One of the major doctrines of scripture is eternal judgment.

Sin will be judged on every level:

Each individual will be judged. (That’s why we preach the gospel):

The gospel is good news to a sinner!

Our present American culture resists any idea of future judgment.

The major mindset is that everyone is going to heaven.

https://www.barna.com/research/americans-describe-their-views-about-life-after-death/

Most Americans do not expect to experience Hell first-hand: just one-half of 1% expect to go to Hell upon their death. Nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) believe they will go to Heaven. One in 20 adults (5%) claim they will come back as another life form, while the same proportion (5%) contend they will simply cease to exist.

Hebrews 9:27-28 (NLT)

And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, …

(28) so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.

All of us individually will one day stand before Jesus and give an account!

Don’t be scared. Jesus took your judgment!

Believers will be judged or rewarded:

2 Corinthians 5:10 (AMPC)

For we must all appear and be revealed as we are before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive [his pay] according to what he has done in the body, whether good or

evil [considering what his purpose and motive have been, and what he has achieved, been busy with, and given himself and his attention to accomplishing].

Nations will be judged:

Matthew 25:31-33 (NKJV)

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.

God has given us much. “To whom much is given, much is required…”

There are those with loud voices in the media and online that want you to believe that America has rejected its Christian roots. If we stay silent and let them lie this into existence, then America will be judged if we stay on our current course.

Some believe we are now under judgment.

We have killed 64 million babies; in public schools we are grooming our children to be sexually immoral. Marriage is no longer a given, and the original design has been perverted to include same sex marriage. We are worse than Sodom and Gomorrah!

Satan and the antiChrist will be judged.

This globalist cabal that is seeking to undermine our election process and take away our constitution, Bill of Rights, and hence our freedoms, will be judged right along with the antiChrist!

The Killing of Uncle Sam: The Demise of the United States of America: Howard-Browne, Rodney, Williams, Paul: 9781645720041: Amazon.com: Books

Revelation 20:10 (NLT)

Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Hint – Don’t take sin lightly. Deal with it quickly. Satan will gain a toehold in your life if you do not deal quickly with sin.

So because of this living in between, things are going to feel a bit awkward and strange if you compare now to the previous years of your life.

It seems as though we have turned a corner, and things are proceeding rapidly to their endgame.

2. The only unchangeable thing is the word of God.

If you base your life on anything but the Word of God, you are going to fail.

Isaiah 33:6 (NKJV)

Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times,

And the strength of salvation; The fear of the LORD is His treasure.

Matthew 24:35 (NKJV)

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

Psalms 119:89 (NKJV)

Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.

Isaiah 40:8 (NKJV)

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”

Isaiah 55:11 (NKJV)

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

The Word will give you stability. It will give you hope, and faith will rise within you!

Spend MORE time in the Word than you do in the news or on social media, etc…

Turn off social media, news, etc. They have become mechanisms of control…

Instead of being guided by circumstances, feelings, or thoughts, you decide to let God’s Word guide your life.

Smith Wigglesworth quote about the Word of God:

Read it through; write it down; pray it in; work it out; pass it on. The Word of God changes a man until he becomes an epistle of God.

 

Read it, memorize it, meditate it, believe it, work it in, walk it out!

 

3. Great pressure is here to stay.

Luke 21:8-13 (NLT)

He replied, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and saying, ‘The time has come!’ But don’t believe them. 9 And when you hear of wars and insurrections, don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place first, but the end won’t follow immediately.” 10 Then he added, “Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 1) There will be great earthquakes, and there will be famines and plagues in many lands, and there will be terrifying things and great miraculous signs from heaven.

12 “But before all this occurs, there will be a time of great persecution. You will be dragged into synagogues and prisons, and you will stand trial before kings and governors because you are my followers. 13 But this will be your opportunity to tell them about me.

Luke 21:14-19 (NLT)

So don’t worry in advance about how to answer the charges against you, 15 for I will give you the right words and such wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to reply or refute you! 16 Even those closest to you—your parents, brothers, relatives, and friends—will betray you. They will even kill some of you. 17 And everyone will hate you because you are my followers. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish! 19 By standing firm, you will win your souls.

Luke 21:25-28 (AMPC)

And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth [there will be] distress (trouble and anguish) of nations in bewilderment and perplexity [without resources, left wanting, embarrassed, in doubt, not knowing which way to turn] at the roaring (the echo) of the tossing of the sea, 26 Men swooning away or expiring with fear and dread and apprehension and expectation of the things that are coming on the world; for the [very] powers of the heavens will be shaken and caused to totter. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great (transcendent and overwhelming) power and [all His kingly] glory (majesty and splendor). 28 Now when these things begin to occur, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption (deliverance) is drawing near.

Learn to pray and expect God to answer!

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.

Matthew 6:33-34 (NKJV)

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

4. Sin, sexual depravity, and lawlessness will become the norm in society, while living godly will be set aside.

The Globalists’ plan is to remove any faith in God from the people. They want your faith to be in them and their system that controls you.

So, schools are teaching and encouraging homosexual, lesbian, polysexual, and transgender ideology, and these kinds of ideas are promoted on all social media sites, on Youtube, Instagram, Reels, and Tic-Toc – all aimed at tainting the minds of the young and moving society away from the Biblical ethics of the 10 commandments that made us great.

People are easier to control when they have no standards.

Jesus said that when He returns, It will be like it was in the days of Noah:

Luke 17:26-27 (NLT)

When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 27 In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all.

In Noah’s day, the entrance of fallen angels and human relationships producing giant offspring that were barbaric and ruthless had proliferated all over the world.

This was the reason for Noah’s flood.

The fallen angels took on human form, and lusted after the women of the time. They corrupted the human DNA structure and compromised God’s order of humanity.

They also spread an anti-God ideology that took God out of the equation of human life, and wickedness and depravity spread profusely.

They taught witchcraft and introduced occult ideas that pandered to the dark side – fallen angels and demons were worshiped and allowed into mainstream society.

God HAD to judge it.

God was being replaced by another way of thinking and living that did not include Him.

The people of the day were not aware of what was coming. They were just living life like normal. And sin and alternate lifestyles, where any kind of sex was okay, were being normalized.

The people had no expectation that a crisis was looming.

Likewise, in our day, these same things are beginning to happen.

There is now a rash of alien or UFO encounters being talked about.

Sightings are being reported all over the place.

The ideology is being spread.

As it was in the days of Noah.

Check out Rick Renner’s latest book: Fallen Angels, Giants, Monsters, and the World before the Flood.

https://a.co/d/fsSXFQl

Most people have no idea what is coming before Jesus returns. You must warn them!

It will be like it was in the days of Lot:

Luke 17:28-30 (NLT)

And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building—29 until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

As in Lot’s time, all morals are acceptable. Homosexuality, lesbianism, transgender, and binary sexuality are accepted as an alternative to heterosexual relationship and marriage. And this is being taught in public education.

These things brought judgment in Noah’s day, and in Lot’s day.

It is a good thing that people are rising up to resist the moral decay being presented to our children. Boycott with your money places that are spreading family-destroying ideals.

Boycott businesses that promote these things boldly.

That rainbow that God put in the sky as a promise to never use a worldwide flood to destroy the earth is a reminder of God’s faithful promises. Now it is used as colors on a flag to promote what judgment destroyed in Sodom and Gomorrah!

Behind this is the antiChrist spirit seeking to remove from the world any Judeo-Christian moral ethics. The goal is to sanitize the world of Christian moral beliefs. This will create persecution.

Just like in Noah’s day, and Lot’s day, most people have no idea about what is coming. Warn them.

Luke 17:28-30 (NLT)

People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building—(29) until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. (30) Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

5. An Endtime Timeline of Events from the Bible:

Here is a quick quick reminder of what is coming…

From Daniel 9 we learn that there are 7 years of time when God deals with Israel that are not yet fulfilled. God showed Daniel 490 years of Israel’s future of which 483 are fulfilled. And that time clock stopped when Jesus was crucified.

An undetermined time of 2000 years now has elapsed, and we may be the generation to see the last 7 years fulfilled.

A huge sign of Jesus’ soon return was in 1948 when Israel became a nation again after almost 2000 years.

They will never leave that land!

In 1967, Israel regained control of Jerusalem for the first time since AD 70.

In 2017, the US recognized Jerusalem and relocated their Embassy there.

When Jesus returns, He will rescue Israel from a terrible war that may have started last year!

There will be an agreement of peace of some sort that will seem to bring hostility to an end. It will most likely be an agreement to house a Palestinian State right there beside Israel, and there will be a pseudo peace that will not last long.

A Jewish temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem.

The Globalists, headed by the person the Bible calls antiChrist, will renege on their peace with Israel

A one-world government will be in force.

The world leader we call antiChrist will violate the rebuilt temple and break his agreement with Israel.

This will begin a time of great persecution of Jews and Christians. It will probably be because of our moral stance against sexual sin.

War, inflation, famine, death, martyrdom, and solar disturbances are a part of this time.

Several years into this 7-year period, the wrath of God begins. Nature turns violent. This is called the Day of the Lord.

Revelation 8 begins the trumpet judgments on earth after the antiChrist begins his reign. This is the beginning of the wrath of God.

Meteorites hit the earth. This begins the wrath and judgment of God. These things are coming.

Judgment is coming. We must pray and share Jesus with people!

I believe we will see a prewrath rapture.

We leave in the rapture when the sun, moon, and stars darken with some kind of cosmic disturbance.

Thomas Horne had a vision about 5 years ago with a date and name of an asteroid (Apophis- the Greek god of destruction) that hits the earth – April 13, 2029. That could be the fulfillment of Revelation 8.

Thomas Horn – The Wormwood Prophecy

https://a.co/d/3mZvZs8

The Messenger.

https://a.co/d/0vijm0d

Be ready. Don’t just think about today. Think about your future in eternity.

Luke 17:31-35 (NLT)

On that day a person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return home. 32 Remember what happened to Lot’s wife! 33 If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it. 34 That night two people will be asleep in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding flour together at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.”

(Referring to the rapture of the church).

In some ways, life will go on just like it has for generations.

Don’t get caught up and too immersed in the culture.

Lot’s wife looked back because maybe she missed the old life “Her heart was attached to something that was judged in Sodom.”

Don’t cling to the old.

My opinion: Our American idols are being judged. Money. Sports. Recreation. Leisure. Hollywood.

Will it ever get back to normal? Who knows. Probably NOT!

We are to seek first the kingdom of God!

What we are dealing with is setting us up for something else.

The elites that are pushing the antiChrist one world control have found out how easy it is now to control people with health issues. Science or no science.

They have learned the art of brainwashing people to accept what science rejects.

Don’t be a part of the herd mentality.

It’s time to bring yourself into an internal separation from what your flesh likes and what you have to have to be happy.

Honor God. Honor His Presence. Honor His purity!

6. The Holy Spirit will manifest strongly again.

Joel 2:28-32 (NLT)

Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike. 30 And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth— blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible day of the LORD arrives. 32 But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD

will be saved, for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape, just as the LORD has said.

These will be among the survivors whom the LORD has called.

Isaiah 60:1-3 (NKJV)

Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. 2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the LORD will

arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. 3 The Gentiles shall come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Ask for the Holy Spirit to be poured out once again all over the world, and in your life and in your church.

Bottom line, be a person of the WORD. God honors His Word.

As all of this comes, He will make a way for you.

He will provide, protect, and preserve you if you will trust Him.

Action Points:

How to prepare:

1. Judge sin in your life and ask God to help you overcome it. Get rid of idols you may have…

2. Read and live by scripture.

3. Pray with the expectation of answers.

 

Seven Tips to Help Your Marriage!

9.22.2024

Susan and I were married on this date in 1979 – 45 years ago today!

I want to talk to you today about how to strengthen your marriage.

The family unit is the glue that holds any human society together. And marriage is the foundation of the family.

If marriage loses its value, then that society is in danger of collapse. Marriage and family are God’s plan to pass values and morality from one generation to the next.

As goes the family, so goes the nation.

 

In our nation, we have more couples living together without marriage (yes, the Bible calls this fornication) and having children than ever before.

40 to 50% of first time marriages end in divorce. 60 to 67% of 2nd marriages end in divorce in America. And in recent years, the very idea of marriage being a relationship solely between a man and a woman has been challenged.

We are a nation in great danger. Our moral fabric is coming apart!

The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the Lord

(Proverbs 18:22-NLT).

Genesis 2:18-25 (NLT)

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” 19 So the LORD God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. 20 He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the LORD God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. 23 “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” 24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. 25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

Seven tips to help your marriage:

1. Nurture yourself spiritually every day.

Your spiritual life directly affects your closest relationships.

 

1 John 1:7 (NLT)

But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.

 

Without Jesus’ influence on us, we are inherently self-centered.

 

The natural me and you, without Jesus’ influence, are selfish, stubborn, and proud.

 

How about family devos?

 

Rub off the rough edges by rubbing up to Jesus in the Word and prayer every day.

The Dynamo principle is personal time with God.

The Manna principle – no one can feed you inside like God’s Word will.

Get your love and significance needs met by Jesus, and then He will help you love your spouse.

2. Keep friendship alive.

Friendship revolves around common likes.

Communicate regularly your desires, joys, disappointments, ideas, concerns.

 

Share heart secrets. You can’t demean or force this. A person is made comfortable by your reaction and demeanor.

Do things together…eating, shopping, projects around the house, hobbies, cooking.

3. Express affection daily.

Touch and Words are important.

Men: open the door for your wife.

Hold hands.

Hug and kiss each time you leave or arrive at home together.

You can never wear out “I love you.”

Husband – your wife “needs” the affection.

Wives – your husband “needs” affirmation.

Ephesians 5:33 (NLT)

So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her

husband.

4. Put the other person first

Practice the golden rule-

 

Luke 6:31 (NLT)

Do to others as you would like them to do to you.

 

Put your spouse above yourself.

 

Romans 12:10 (NLT)

Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each

other.

 

Romans 12:10 (AMPC)

Giving precedence and showing honor to one another.

 

Romans 12:10 (MSG)

Practice playing second fiddle.

 

Romans 12:10 (NIV)

Honor one another above yourselves.

 

Romans 12:10 (NCV)

Give each other more honor than you want for yourselves.

 

Philippians 2:4 (NKJV)

Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

 

Philippians 2:4 (AMPC)

Let each of you esteem and look upon and be concerned for not [merely] his own interests, but also each for the interests of others.

 

Philippians 2:4 (J. B. Phillips)

None of you should think only of his own affairs, but consider other people’s interests also.

 

5. Don’t ignore problems – work on them.

“Marriage problems” are really two people who individually have problem

issues in their lives…

 

Hints to solving marriage problems:

 

5. Don’t ignore problems – work on them.

“Marriage problems” are really two people who individually have problem issues in their lives…

 

Hints to solving marriage problems:

 

1. Stop looking at your spouse’s problems – look at your own!

2. Don’t justify your faults and magnify theirs.

James 5:16 (KJV)

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

3. Practice listening – stop talking.

James 1:19 (NKJV)

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;

4. Develop a devotional time with the Lord.

5. Love is not a feeling.

Love is a choice. When Jesus said love your enemy, He was not talking about a feeling. He was emphasizing a choice to do kind things to your enemy.

6. Discuss solutions – not just problems.

7. Forgive.

Ephesians 4:32 (NKJV)

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Colossians 3:12-13 (NKJV)

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

Humble yourself

 

Proverbs 3:34 (NKJV)

Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble.

 

Be honest with yourself. Ask the Lord to show you your weak areas.

 

Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Psalm 90:8 (AMPC)

Our iniquities, our secret heart and its sins [which we would so like to conceal even from ourselves], You have set in the [revealing] light of Your countenance.

 

If you don’t feel good about yourself, you generally tend to be critical of others.

 

NEVER go to bed angry. Clear each day’s offenses THAT day.

 

Ephesians 4:26-27 (NLT)

And don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still

angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

 

Get outside help if necessary.

 

6. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Make daily communication a priority matter.

If you’re too busy to talk each day, you’re too busy!

Go below surface talk…share your heart.

Be aware of each other’s emotional needs – men vs. women.

Don’t discuss sensitive issues when physically exhausted.

7. Keep your bed wrinkled!

If there are rocks in the bedsprings, there are problems in the marriage!

 

Having regular sexual relations is a sign of a good relationship.

 

Hebrews 13:4 (NKJV)

Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

 

1 Corinthians 7:3-5 contains 3 principles of sexuality in marriage that it would

be wise to apply:

 

1 Corinthians 7:3-5 (NLT)

The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. 4 The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

 

1) The principle of need – vs. 3

2) The principle of authority – vs. 4

3) The principle of habit – vs. 5

 

* Set standards concerning your relationship with the opposite sex.

Action Points:

1. Have you decided to make yourself an easier person to be with?

2. How can you be a better listener and communicator?

3. When was the last time you asked your spouse, what can I do to make your life better?