This article is by Asher Intrater of the ministry Revive Israel. Asher is a Messianic Jew originally from the USA but now based in Israel.
For my prophetically gifted friends, may I mention three warnings:
Gospel First – if we are focusing on a socio-political issue MORE than the gospel of salvation in Yeshua, then we have missed the priority.
Universal Repentance – if we are calling for one side of an issue to repent, claiming that we are right and they are wrong, we have already missed the point. We are all wrong and need to repent ourselves; and call both sides to repent.
Rebellion/Stubbornness – heavenly wisdom is pure, peaceable, and easy to be reconciled (James 3:17). We are called at times to disobey governments when involving religious freedom and moral absolutes. But we are also called to submit to governing authorities.
There is a delicate balance here. Peter refused to obey the governing authorities in (Acts 4), yet told us to submit to all governing authorities in (I Peter 2). Paul spent much of his ministry in jail but told us that to resist the government is to resist God (Romans 13).
It is interesting to compare Revelation 13 and Romans 13. The first speaks of a worldwide government run by a demonic figure; the second speaks of government workers as ministers of God doing a divine service.
There are a variety of ministries and gifts in the body of Christ. They are called to work together in cooperation, thus complementing and balancing one another from extremist views.
“He … gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God…” Ephesians 4:11-13
There is safety in this teamwork. Prophetic ministries were designed to be overseen by someone with apostolic insight. A prophetically gifted person should be in a local community with pastoral oversight for their personal and family needs and also be submitted to a team with apostolic oversight for their ministry direction.
When prophets seek to operate outside this team model, they are more likely to be deceived. Some ‘prophets’ today believe they have received a word and run to social media to announce it. Many of them have no accountability at all. The New Covenant focuses on Ephesians 4 teams that work together.
Such cooperation helps prevent imbalance and rebellion. There are different structures and styles in which this teamwork can take place. I am not promoting one form or another. However, we need mutual submission to guard against extremism and deception during these times of intense conflict.
Throughout biblical history, the prophets spoke to the nation, sometimes in encouragement and sometimes in criticism. Today as well, we greatly need the gift of clear and balanced prophetic discernment in our midst.
Randy Alcorn lost his wife Nanci recently due to cancer. Obviously Nanci and Randy prayed for healing when they first learned the bad news. Fortunately, both learned a great deal about God through the experience and as a result, their trust and faith in God increased. Moreover, we are benefiting now from Randy sharing their story with us
Nanci Alcorn, wife to best-selling author Randy Alcorn has passed away on March 28th after a long batter with colon cancer.
On November 14, 2019, Nanci wrote the following in her journal:
Today I am thinking about “faith.” I have learned so much about faith.
What faith is not:
Trying to gather as much hope and “possibilities” in my own mind to reach a certain level.
Believing in that level of possibilities as hard as I can.
Presenting that package of my own hopes and dreams to God as my personal qualification to receive my hopes and dreams
God weighing the level of that package in order to determine the level of His answer to my prayers If I work up enough hope on my own, God will answer my prayers according to my wishes
What faith is:
A deep and continued study of the character and work of God Almighty
A deep and continued discipline of prayer—listening to the Holy Spirit—praying Scripture—seeking forgiveness—asking for enlightenment—praising Him for His character and works
Then, based upon the above, submit your requests to God Almighty—placing your well-grounded knowledge of His character and works into each request, always asking His will be done
Faith is being assured that God Almighty always acts according to His character and works. He never waivers. You can trust in God Almighty to always do the right thing. Nothing slips through His grid. God has everything planned, and all His plans will succeed.
The more I understand God’s character and works, the stronger my faith will be, and the more I want His will to be done knowing God does all things well.
The more I understand God’s: – Omniscience, Omnipotence, Grace, Mercy, Justice/Worth, Immanence, Immutability, Faithfulness, Love, Unity, Trinity, Holiness. The more my faith in Him will calm my soul.
Randy adds the following:
Some people hold tenaciously to a faith that their child will not die, that their cancer will disappear, and that their spouse will recover from a stroke. Do they have faith in God or is their faith in what they desperately want God to do?
If we base our faith on lack of affliction, our faith lives on the brink of extinction and will fall apart at any moment because of a frightening diagnosis or a shattering phone call. Token faith will not survive suffering, nor should it. Only when we jettison ungrounded and untrue faith can we replace it with valid faith in the true God—faith that can pass, and even find strength in, the most formidable of life’s tests.
God tells us that trials in which evil and suffering come upon us “have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:7). Paul Tournier wrote, “If healing through faith is striking, how much more so are spiritual victories without healing.”
Several years ago, before Nanci was diagnosed with cancer, I wrote this in a blog titled “If I Have Enough Faith, Will God Heal Me?”:
We should pray for ourselves and our suffering loved ones, not simply try to pray away suffering. ‘God, please heal this cancer‘ is appropriate. ‘God, please use for your glory this cancer, so long as I have it’ is equally appropriate.
Let me be clear: God can and sometimes does heal presently, and whenever He does we should celebrate His mercy! I have often prayed for healing and sometimes I have witnessed it, and it’s a wonderful thing to behold and celebrate. But ultimately, all healing in this world is temporary, since people’s bodies inevitably deteriorate and die (after Lazarus died and was risen in his mortal body, eventually he had to die again) Resurrection healing will be permanent. For that our hearts should overflow with praise to our gracious God.
Nanci and I have long known that prosperity theology, or the health and wealth gospel, is a deception, not the true gospel. So we did not even once cling to the “certainty” that God would heal her in this world under the Curse.
Nanci’s journals overflow with the promises of God, and many quotes from Spurgeon and the Puritans, people who died long ago (some of whom she probably already met—if there is a line for those waiting to meet Spurgeon, she’s probably in it having delightful conversations). Nanci never quoted from aging and dying prosperity preachers, who will all die of something and daily get closer to death even as they promise “It’s always God’s will to heal you,” typically adding “send us your prayer requests for healing, along with a love offering [money].”
Though we prayed for it every night for four years, we understood that healing was never a certainty, and also knowing full well that sometimes He chooses to heal and sometimes He doesn’t, and even when He does the healing is temporary, and death always comes. “For death is the destiny of every person, and the living should take this to heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2). When doctors told us Nanci was going to die, she told me, “We always knew that, we just didn’t know when, and we still don’t.”
But of course, God promises the death of death. He will not let it die a natural death, He will decisively “swallow up death forever” (Isaiah 25:8). Death will not have the last word. God will.
Jesus said to Martha, mourning the death of her brother Lazarus, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).
Answering the question Jesus asked Martha, Nanci and I both said yes—we DO believe you, Jesus. We believe that even when we die, we will live, and in the sense of final death, we will never die at all. We will depart a cursed earth to live with Him in the present Heaven, from which He will one day bring our spirits down to join our bodies in resurrection, and we will then live forever on God’s New Earth.
Randy, God does not bring our spirits down to join our bodies in the resurrection. God raises the dead first and then raptures the living Saints and they meet Jesus in the air in their new bodies (changed in an instant). Later, they come down from heaven in their resurrected bodies to rule and reign with Jesus during His Millennial reign on this earth.
“For the Lord, himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
“For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.” 1 Corinthians 15:52-53
“The blood is still there. It’s still spread all over the floor.”
Joel Veldkamp, head of international communications at persecution watchdog Christian Solidarity International (CSI), shared these chilling words while discussing the vile attack on a Nigerian church Sunday that left at least 50 dead.
A police officer stands guard inside the St. Francis Catholic Church, a day after an attack that targeted worshipers in Owo, Nigeria, Monday, June 6, 2022. The gunmen who killed 50 people at a Catholic church in southwestern Nigeria opened fire on worshippers both inside and outside the building in a coordinated attack before escaping the scene
“It was Pentecost Sunday in Nigeria, so the church was full of people,” Veldkamp said. “According to one report, the gunmen snuck in disguised as worshippers. And then other gunmen arrived on motorcycles from the outside and started shooting from the outside, and then the ones who were already inside the congregation started shooting as well.”
The assailants then reportedly placed bombs on the altar and around the church before detonating them.
So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, though some reports ponder whether radical Islamic terror groups could be culpable. The location of the attack — in a southwest region of Nigeria — is one of the factors that adds to the “distressing and disturbing” details, as that area is typically peaceful and unaffected by the terror that has gripped portions of northern Nigeria.
“There are a lot of fears that this is going to open up a new chapter in anti-Christian terrorism in Nigeria,” Veldkamp said.
Renewed critique emerged last month after a Muslim mob reportedly fatally stoned Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu, a 25-year-old Christian college student of Shehu Shagari College of Education was beaten and burned to death in Sokoto Nigeria, Friday, May 13, 2022, by fellow Muslim students after she was accused of making a blasphemous social media post.
We are all familiar with the iconic ape-to-man image, which shows a smooth evolutionary progression from stooped ape to upright man. But what is the scientific evidence for the various transitional species in this evolutionary ‘march of progress’?
In this short video, you will find out. Contents: Introduction 00:34 Homo neanderthalensis (‘Neanderthal Man’) 01:01 Homo erectus 01:21 Australopithecus afarensis (e.g. ‘Lucy’) 02:02 Homo habilis 02:56 Summary.
Make prayer the steering wheel of your life as do Alex and Stephen Kendrick but you also need to get out of the driver’s seat and let the Holy Spirit take control.
Brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick, who have created iconic Christian films like “Facing the Giants,” “Courageous,” “Fireproof,” “War Room,” and “Overcomer,” are gearing up for a unique, new project they believe is a “divine appointment” for the times in which we’re living. “Lifemark,” which releases in select theaters nationwide on September 9 with Fathom Events, tells the true story of an adopted young man’s journey to meet his birth parents. The film comes as society boisterously debates the life issue and as the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to potentially overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that codified nationalized abortion. The Kendricks, who partnered with actor Kirk Cameron to create the powerful adoption story, know the timing isn’t a coincidence.
This movie is a result of prayer and letting God direct the Kendrick brother’s actions.
Watch this video and be inspired. If you live in the USA watch out for the movie, Lifemark in September.
Knowing God, as He is presented in scripture, is a non-negotiable for Christians. Theology offers an eternal well of joy and a shield of protection from the enemy. Any Christian who thinks they can continue with a “no creed but Christ” is setting themselves up for failure. Anyone with this paradigm should truly self-evaluate if they really love the Lord at all. A denial of the need for theology is a denial of the Lord Jesus.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.“ Hebrews 4:12
It is impossible to know doctrine, love, or God without the scripture. This is where the oracles of God and His gospel are contained. It is this special means by which God has chosen to reveal Himself to us.
Psalm 119 is extraordinarily helpful here. I do not think it is a coincidence that the single longest chapter in scripture (176 verses) is dedicated to loving the law of God. The psalmist reminds us over and over how his true delight and protection are only found in knowing God, via His word. He writes:
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes! With my lips, I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies, I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.” Psalms 119:9-16
A pursuit of theology is fundamental and vital to our makeup as human beings. Because we bear the Imago Dei (made in the image of God), we’re designed with a natural inclination for the spiritual and divine. We are wired to pursue theology – if not formally, then certainly informally. Even atheists, by their own self-admission, are going out of the way to classify themselves by an a-theological position. The great efforts made to publicly deny God are, in and of themselves, admissions of the great importance God plays in our world. It’s for reasons like these that statements that deny the need for theology are so absurd.
In Australia, WordLive from Scripture Union is a free, online Bible reading guide, to help you meet with God devotionally through the Bible. It is just one of the many Bible reading guides available free online for your use.
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
This Biblical truth is supported by Daniel A. Cox, senior fellow in polling and public opinion at the American Enterprise Institute, who also serves as director of the Survey Center on American Life, notes that “for as long as we have been able to measure religious commitments, childhood religious experiences have strongly predicted adult religiosity.”
Sadly, for nearly 30 years, notes Cox, research shows the share of Americans who identify as religious has consistently declined with each new generation. “This pattern continues with Generation Z demonstrating less attachment to religion than the millennial generation did,” he said.
Generation Z, born in the late 1990s and early 2000s, is now the least religious generation yet, with 34% of them identifying as religiously unaffiliated. Among millennials, 29% identify as religiously unaffiliated, while Generation X stands at 25%. Only 18% of baby boomers and 9% of the silent generation identify as religiously unaffiliated.
Cox pointed to a number of factors that have impacted a diminished view of organized religion, including a breach of trust.
“Gallup has found that trust and confidence in organized religion have plummeted over the past two decades. In 2021, only 37% of the public reported having a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in religious institutions, a massive decline since 2001 when 60 percent reported feeling confident,” he said.
He further added that while only 35% of Americans overall believe religion causes more harm than good, among the disaffiliated who were raised in religious homes, 69% say religion causes problems more than it provides solutions. Some 63% of Americans who have always been religiously unaffiliated also believe religion causes more problems in society than it solves.
Only a little more than half of Americans say raising children with religion is a benefit. Of more concern, 82% of the growing number of religiously unaffiliated disagree and only 40% of Gen Z see raising children with religion as a good thing.
We are fast approaching the time Jesus spoke of that precedes His second coming.
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:9-14
Like the people in Noah’s time who laughed and mocked as he built the ark, the end of this age will come when the overwhelming majority are unprepared.
“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying its power.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5
“But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matthew 24:37-39
Full sized replica of Noah’s Ark built by Answers in Genesis, Williamstown Kentucky. Johan Huiber also built one in Holland.
Knowing this first of all, scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.” 2 Peter 3:3-6
“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:34-36
The main reason for my trip to Africa was to meet up with the leaders of the Kenya House Church Movement that is serving the rural areas of Kenya and now North Tanzania.
However, as I am also involved with the International Christian Chamber of Commerce (www.iccc.net) and the former President of ICCC Australia is now in Rwanda (a short flight from Kenya) I decided to visit him in Kigali and meet some of the ICCC members there. This is a short report on my visit there.
Kigali is a beautiful city, lush green and clean, I did not see litter on the ground anywhere. What a transformation from the time of the Hutus and Tutsis genocide in 1994. At the time of the genocide, the Tutsi victims were specifically targeted by Hutu perpetrators because of their “race.” The most widely accepted scholarly estimates are around 500,000 to 662,000 Tutsi deaths. These two groups of people truly believed they were completely different from each other and physically they are. The Tutsi are tall and the Hutu are short and stocky. What a transformation today, in modern-day Rwanda, referring to Hutu or Tutsi anywhere but in a historical context is not approved of, and done in a political context, it is actually illegal.
The current President Paul Kagame does care about reconciliation, and the fact that leading Hutu figures have been recruited to the party and the military (in effect an extension of the party) shows that they are not Tutsi supremacists. Poverty alleviation schemes target all Rwandans, and ordinary (former) Hutus benefit a lot when the country became more stable and prosperous.
Christianity is the largest religion in Rwanda. The most recent national census from 2012 indicates that: 43.7% of Rwanda’s population are Roman Catholic, 37.7% are Protestant, 11.8% are Seventh-day Adventist, 2.0% are Muslim (mainly Sunni), and 2.5% claim no religious affiliation, and 0.7% are Jehovah’s Witness.
I could live in Rwanda, the people are friendly and the English language is an important language spoken in Rwanda. It comes second after the Kinyarwanda language in its strategic importance. It is the official language in Kigali and the language of instruction in Rwandan schools.
I had an ICCC (International Christian Chamber of Commerce) meeting with several of the leaders in Rwanda and South Africa. It is obvious from these men’s stories that where Christianity is dominant there has been tremendous growth and therefore opportunities for businessmen that want to help these countries to prosper.
My schedule was tough with much travel but my body now in its 86th year on this planet held up amazingly well: thank you, Lord. I am living proof that God will equip you and sustain you if you are obedient and do what He has called you to do. For me, it is to alert the church to Jesus’ second coming and to rule and reign with Him in His Millennial Kingdom.
picture of Kigali, the capital of Rwanda from the apartment where I was staying
I also spent two days in Arusha, Tanzania to visit David Owens the pastor of a Vineyard Church there. I attended the Vineyard Church, David pastored in Ramsgate, and then Hurstville in Sydney, Australia many years ago now. David had me give my testimony and preach on the Holy Spirit at the Sunday morning service. We differ in our theology of end times so I did not speak on Jesus’ soon coming return and the need to be prepared for the prophesied tribulation, even great tribulation that Christians will experience in the years ahead. I hope I planted a seed for him to reconsider his preterist view.
The Preterist view of the end times is based on a symbolic view of the Book of Revelation that holds most of its prophecies have already been fulfilled. Preterism denies the future, literal fulfillment of most of its predictions, focusing instead on allegory and symbolism.
inside picture of the Vineyard Church in Arusha, Tanzania
It’s not about faith to get out of the situation, it’s about having faith to see God in and through the situation! In this video, Ps Shane Willard encourages us with Paul’s story of deliverance. Let’s declare over our situations; that this will turn out for my deliverance — no matter how this turns out I will keep my heart pure, hands clean, and taste sweet.
NON NEGOTIABLES
We are to defend and protect our belief in the name of God’s Son Jesus Christ and do it in a way that defends and protects our love for one another.We can do this because Jesus made it possible for our Heavenly Father to send the Holy Spirit to indwell our Spirit.
“And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.” 1 John 3:23-24
LIVING ETERNAL NOW 