GOD IS PRUNING HIS CHURCH

More great wisdom from Francis Chan. Since Francis Chan walked away from the church he had in California boasting of over 5000 members I knew Francis was hearing from God. Church from then on for Francis was no more buildings, no paid pastors and accountability of all members.

God is using the coronavirus pandemic as a time to “prune the Church and cut off branches that aren’t bearing fruit,” ultimately allowing the Body of Christ to become more “fruitful,” according to popular speaker and author Francis Chan.

Chan, former teaching pastor of Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley, California, on Wednesday participated in the Q 2020 Virtual Summit, an annual event that equips Christian leaders to thoughtfully engage culture from a Christian worldview.

“I hear a lot of talk of people being concerned about whether their church is going to survive,” Chan, speaking via Livestream, told host Gabe Lyons. “The illustration I think of is, if I had a diamond right here, and I just smash it with a hammer, what would happen to that diamond? Nothing. If it’s a real diamond, if it shatters, it wasn’t real.”

He pointed out that in Matthew 16:18, Jesus says, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

“This is going to be a group that the gates of Hell can’t stand against,” Chan explained. “No virus, no government, no economic this or that, life, death, nothing. And so we as believers are supposed to trust the words of Jesus and go, ‘The Church is going to be fine. If anything, this is the time where God is going to prune the Church and cut off branches that aren’t bearing fruit, but it’s only going to become more fruitful.’”

“And so with that type of confidence, we have to move forward and go, what’s the worst thing that happened to me? I die and receive the award I’ve been … longing for my whole life. We can be fearless.”

Statistics from a recent Barna Group survey found that six to nine percent of pastors are unsure or not confident that their church will survive the coronavirus pandemic. Forty-two percent of pastors said giving was “significantly” down and 28 percent said it was “slightly” down. Only around a quarter said it stayed the same.

Additionally, nearly a quarter of American churches (22 percent) have already reduced staff hours, reduced compensation, or laid off employees.

In this unprecedented time of uncertainty, the Crazy Love author stressed that “God knew you and I were going to be alive at this time, adding: “We were literally made for this, prepared for this.”

GOD IS SHAKING WHAT CAN BE SHAKEN THAT HIS KINGDOM CAN COME FORTH

This is a prophecy which came out of Succat Hallel (Tabernacle of Praise), Jerusalem. It is a 24 hour prayer centre. Rick Ridings is the founder with his wife Patricia. The prophecy was given by Rick Ridings and has as can be expected an Israel focus. I have distilled it somewhat and suggest you go to their website to read it all.

Do not be afraid of the chaos in the times of the shakings. But know that through these shakings, I will bring forth My kingdom which cannot be shaken.

We have just experienced what was primarily a season of threshing in our individual lives, our families, churches, and ministries. And I believe this season between Passover and Pentecost is a season marked especially by the threshing of the nations.

May the Lord guide us how to pray for nations in this season of the realignment and shifting of nations and economies. The nations are in a valley of decision. Most if not all don’t understand that God is using the Corona virus for His purpose of shaking them and most will not repent and get right with God and His purposes for Israel.

“But now many nations are gathered against you. They say, ‘Let her be defiled, let our eyes gloat over Zion!’ [a major part of this sifting will be dealing with the attitudes of nations toward the Jew and Israel]. But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor. ‘Rise and thresh, Daughter Zion, for I will give you horns of iron; I will give you hooves of bronze, and you will break to pieces many nations.’ You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord, their wealth to the Lord of all the earth. ” Micah 4:11-13 [This threshing will realign economies]

To see true economic recovery, we as His Church, need to deeply and sincerely repent of the worship of Mammon and greed that has caused us to kiss the Dragon, rather than to kiss the Son.

“Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.” Psalms 2:10-12

 

LET’S JOIN THE USA IN A NATIONAL DAY OF REPENTANCE APRIL 30TH

The goal of Jeff Daly and the National Day of Repentance is to have the political leaders of the USA call for a Day of Repentance.  The United States has not had such a Day for 102 years, since 1918. As Jeff declares, this is needed today more than ever.
April 30 was honoured by President Lincoln in 1863 when, in his third call for a national day of “humiliation, fasting and prayer” Lincoln declared: “We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity.  We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God.”  God saw His people repenting.  Within days, a miracle happened: a Confederate general was shot by his own sentry and was unavailable for the Battle of Gettysburg. The union forces won; the nation was preserved; God’s Plan for the United States was advanced.
April 30 was then honoured by Senator Mark Hatfield, calling for a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer for April 30, 1974.  Hatfield, using Lincoln’s language,  sought a spiritual refocus for the nation stunned by the Watergate debacle.  Hatfield’s motion was unanimous approved by the Senate, but was not picked up by the House; the Day was not held.
April 30 always precedes the USA National Day of Prayer, the first Thursday of May.  Many appreciate having a day of personal repentance, removing old sin patterns, adding Holy Spirit power prior to our national prayers. God protects and heals a nation when He hears from heaven and watches His people, not just pray, but also cry out for Him for His help, as they repent.
” When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 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.”  2 Chronicles 7:13-14
The move towards repentance is growing.  This Sunday, key leaders including Pastor Bob Perry in Nashville  are holding a “sacred assembly” over the phone line:  3pm CDT/4pm EDT  (515)-604-9774; access code 557346#
 
Next Friday, May 1,  many, from many nations, are signing up to  support the nation of Malawi in a Global Day of Repentance.  www.globalrepent.com
Thus April 30, next Thursday, will be an excellent Repentance Day for all of us. You plus the Lord can have your own repentance day. The Lord has to love it when you and I spend time with the Holy Spirit, repenting. The more we repent, the more we abide in Him.  As we, His Bride, repent we cleanse that much more, ready for His soon coming as the Bridegroom.

DOES GOD FORBID KILLING

One of the most common questions that someone serious about the Bible will ask has to do with one of the Ten Commandments; namely the sixth commandment that seem to prohibit the act of “killing”.

Putting aside for a moment the question about taking the life of an animal, the case of homicide (taking the life of a human) seems to be closed. Upon further examination of the underlying Hebrew original, however, a different, more nuanced picture emerges. 

Most English Bibles, especially the monumental KJV version, inaccurately (or rather not accurately enough) translates the sixth commandment simply as “Do Not Kill” (Exodus 20:13). But the Hebrew under the English translation justifies a much better alternative: “Do Not Murder”. To put this intense ethical matter into simple terms, every murder is killing, but not every killing is murder. (Murder is killing without a just cause.)

The Hebrew verb להרוג (to kill) can include unjustified homicide, but the Hebrew verb לרצח (to murder) is never used to describe a justified killing, such as killing in self-defence or court-ordered capital punishment. (This “justified killing” can also be translated by a different Hebrew verb להמית that is best translated as “to put to death”).

Keeping these insights in mind, the question then becomes simple. Which Hebrew verb is used in the Decalogue? The answer is לרצח – the verb that must be more accurately translated not with the broad meaning–“to kill”, but with a more particular definition–“to murder”.

So does God forbid homicide? The answer is yes, but He does allow it under certain circumstances such as murder.

Why did I include this post on living eternal now? In large part, because the world and even Christians no longer fear God and yet the Bible clearly says that the beginning of wisdom is to fear God. Sadly, the world does not believe in Noah’s Flood and yet the fossil evidence clearly reveals billions of living things, plants and animals were buried quickly worldwide. The evidence is a stark reminder of the judgement of God. He destroyed all but eight people and all the animals except two of a kind (some cases seven) of animals, birds and insects needed to repopulate the planet.

 

SID ROTH GETS IT RIGHT: CHURCH! IT’S TIME TO REPENT

“The major mark of this next move of God’s Spirit is repentance,” Roth said. He urges Christians to use this time in quarantine to do two things: repent and pray in tongues “without ceasing.”

“I’m excited about the new beginnings God is giving the church, and it starts with us as individuals living in rapid repentance,” Roth said. “It flat doesn’t matter what’s going on in the world. It’s what’s going on with you. It’s, ‘Are you living in rapid repentance? Are you praying in tongues every moment you have?’ That’s what’s more important because all things work together for good if you are praying in tongues and living your repentant life.”

“I think this is God’s time to have believers operate in all of the promises of the New Testament. The truth is we know how to stand on the Word. We’re experts about that. But what about the power of God being manifested as we speak, that is what occurred for the early Christians as expressed in the Book of Acts, that is what we will see evident in the “last days” church.

Roth said that despite the chaos happening in the world, God’s glory is “erupting now” and the church will be invited to fulfil Jesus’ words in John 14 that his followers will do greater things than He.

“I believe many should set their day to operate in the glory because it’s not going to be a superstar movement. It’s going to be one where the church knows we already have a superstar. His name is Jesus or Yeshua, and it’s Yeshua in us the hope of glory.”

PRAYERS OF REPENTANCE NEEDED FOR WHAT OUR NATIONS HAVE DONE TO THE JEWS

Prayers of repentance needed for what has been done in the past and is being been done now to the Jewish people. All of the issues involve not understanding God’s role for the Jewish people as outlined in His Word.

PRAYER POINTS

  1. Any role in scattering the Jewish people throughout the centuries. They were expelled from many European cities and nations for centuries before the Holocaust. Even the USA by General Ulysses S. Grant. I have provided the history below.
  2. Seeking to divide up His Land. (For example, several American presidents have taken a lead role in proposals to divide up what was promised in the Scriptures to the Jews returning from exile. It has been noted that on January 28th, President Trump, who has been a strong friend to Israel, announced a proposal that would divide the Land. The next day, January 29th, he had to announce the establishment of the Corona Virus Task Force.)
  3. Not recognising God’s Plan for the Jewish people as if they are of no account. This applies to most other nations and to the widespread “replacement theology” in the Church.
  4. Boycotting the purchase of goods made in Israel.

What other nation has suffered such persecution down through the centuries. Some of it has been God’s judgement as in the Babylonian captivity and 70 AD expulsion by Rome but much has been satanically driven.

19 CE
Expulsion from the city of Rome by Emperor Tiberius together with practitioners of the Egyptian religion.[6][7]
41-53 CE
Claudius’ expulsion of Jews from Rome.
70 CE
The defeat of the Great Jewish Revolt. Masses of Jews across the Roman Empire enslaved, while many others flee.[8]
119
Large Jewish communities of CyprusCyrene and Alexandria obliterated after the Jewish defeat in Kitos War 
against Rome.
135/6
The Romans suppressed the Bar Kokhba’s revolt. Emperor Hadrian expelled hundreds of thousands Jews from Judea, wiped the name off maps, replaced it with Syria Palaestina, and forbade Jews to set foot in Jerusalem.[9]
415
Jews expelled from Alexandria under the leadership of Saint Cyril of Alexandria.[10]
418
Jews expelled from Minorca or asked to convert.[11]
612
Visigothic king Sisebut mandated that every Jew who would refuse for over a year to have himself or his children and servants baptised would be banished from the country and deprived of his possessions.[12]
629
The entire Jewish population of Galilee massacred or expelled, following the Jewish rebellion against Byzantium.
7th century
Muhammad expelled Jewish tribes Banu Qaynuqa and Banu Nadir from Medina, The Banu Qurayza tribe was slaughtered and the Jewish settlement of Khaybar was ransacked.
1012
Jews expelled from Mainz.
1095 – mid-13th century
The waves of Crusades destroyed hundreds of Jewish communities in Europe and in the Middle East, including Jerusalem.[9]
Mid-12th century
The invasion of Almohades brought to end the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain. Among other refugees was Maimonides, who fled to Morocco, then Egypt, then Eretz Israel.
1276
Jews expelled from Upper Bavaria.[13][14]
12th–14th centuries
France. The practice of expelling the Jews accompanied by confiscation of their property, followed by temporary readmissions for ransom, was used to enrich the crown: expulsions from Paris by Philip Augustus in 1182, from France by Louis IX in 1254, by Philip IV in 1306, by Charles IV in 1322, by Charles V in 1359, by Charles VI in 1394.
13th century
The influential philosopher and logician Ramon Llull (1232–1315) called for expulsion of all Jews who would refuse conversion to Christianity. Some scholars regard Llull’s as the first comprehensive articulation, in the Christian West, of an expulsionist policy regarding Jews. He was beatified in 1847 by Pope Pius IX
1288
Naples issues first expulsion of Jews in Southern Italy.[15]
1290
King Edward I of England issues the Edict of Expulsion for all Jews from England. The policy was reversed after 365 years in 1655 by Oliver Cromwell.
1293
Destruction of most of the Jewish communities in the Kingdom of Naples.[15]
1360
Jews expelled from Hungary by Louis I of Hungary.[16]
1392
Jews expelled from BernSwitzerland. Although between 1408 and 1427 Jews were again residing in the city, the only Jews to appear in Bern subsequently were transients, chiefly physicians and cattle dealers.[17]
1421
Jews expelled from the Duchy of Austria at the behest of Albert II of Germany.[18][circular reference]
1442
Jews again expelled from Upper Bavaria.[13]
1478
Jews expelled from Passau.[13]
1491
Jews of Ravenna expelled, synagogues destroyed.[15]
1492
Spain: Ferdinand II and Isabella I issued the Alhambra decree, General Edict on the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain (approx. 200,000), from Sicily (1493, approx. 37,000), from Portugal (1496) from Calabria Italy 1554.
1495
Charles VIII of France occupies Kingdom of Naples, bringing new persecution against Jews, many of whom were refugees from Spain.[15]
1496
Jews expelled from PortugalMaximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, issues a decree expelling all Jews from Styria and Wiener Neustadt.
1499
Jews expelled from Nuremberg.[13]
1510
Jews expelled from Naples.[15]
1519
Jews expelled from Regensburg.[13]
1551
All remaining Jews expelled from the duchy of Bavaria. Jewish settlement in Bavaria ceased until toward the end of the 17th century, when a small community was founded in Sulzbach by refugees from Vienna.[13]
1569
Pope Pius V expels Jews from the papal states, except for Ancona and Rome.[15]
1593
Pope Clement VIII expels Jews living in all the papal states, except Rome, Avignon and Ancona. Jews are invited to settle in Leghorn, the main port of Tuscany, where they are granted full religious liberty and civil rights, by the Medici family, who want to develop the region into a center of commerce.[13]
1597
Nine hundred Jews expelled from Milan.[15]
1614
Fettmilch Uprising: Jews are expelled from FrankfurtHoly Roman Empire, following the plundering of the Judengasse.
1654
The fall of the Dutch colony of Recife in Brazil to the Portuguese prompted the Jewish arrival in New Amsterdam, the first group of Jews to flee to North America.
1669-1670
Jews expelled from Vienna by Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and subsequently forbidden to settle in the Austrian Hereditary Lands. The former Jewish ghetto on the Unterer Werd was renamed Leopoldstadt in honour of the emperor and the expropriated houses and land given to Catholic citizens.[19]
1683
Jews expelled from Haiti and all of the other French colonies, due to the Code Noir decree issued by Louis XIV.[20]
1701–1714
War of the Spanish Succession. After the war, Jews of Austrian origin were expelled from Bavaria, but some were able to acquire the right to reside in Munich.[13]
1744–1790s
The reforms of Frederick IIJoseph II and Maria Theresa sent masses of impoverished German and Austrian Jews east. See also: Schutzjude.[citation needed]
1791
The tzarina of Russia Catherine the Great institutes the Pale of Settlement, restricting Jews to the western parts of the empire by means of deportation. By the late 19th century, over four million Jews would live in the Pale.
1862 TennesseeMississippiKentucky
Jews expelled by Ulysses S. Grant by General Order No. 11.[21]
1880-1910s
Pogroms in the Russian Empire: around 2.5 million Jews emigrated from eastern Europe, mostly to the United States.[22]
1933–1957
The Nazi German persecution started with the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses in 1933, reached a first climax during Kristallnacht in 1938 and culminated in the Holocaust of European Jewry. The British Mandate of Palestine prohibited Jewish emigration to Mandatory Palestine

PRAY FOR MUSLIMS DURING RAMADAN 2020

This year is especially different due to COVID-19 and the closure of The Great Mosque of Mecca, commonly known as al-Masjid al-Harām. It has been over 900 years since this mosque was closed and not open for visitors making the Hajj (Muslim Pilgrimage). This is extraordinary to think about the power of corporate prayer and that Muslims worldwide are unable to access this right now. Could it be at such a time as this that they are even more open to encountering Christ through relationships, visions, dreams, and even media access ministries?
Ministries to Muslims such as Frontier Alliance International and Global Catalytic Ministries covet your prayers for the disciple makers living in the darkest regions of the earth and those taking risks to minister to Muslims at such a time as this.
Let us pray especially for those places we would consider the most dangerous places Christians to live according to the Open Doors World Watch List. Check it out.

Let’s pray particularly for believers who have come out of Islam. Please take some extra time to offer thanksgiving for each one who has left former things behind and is holding fast to a new life in Christ. Let us thank God for how they lay their lives down daily to risk and make disciples among their people and nations.

Pray for the Salvation of Muslims Worldwide [Hebrews 2:4] Pray that God would send His Spirit to every hungry, seeking, God-fearing, God loving, desperate, needy, and desiring-of-truth Muslim today. As Muslims seek truth and divine encounter, pray that God will meet them with dreams, visions, angelic visitations, Jacob’s ladder experiences, divine miracles, power encounters and any and every sign and wonder that would have deep personal meaning to each individual. As Muslims are especially seeking God on this night for salvation, may they encounter Christ, the true source of salvation, and be forever changed through discovering the heart of the Father for them.
May this night bear much fruit for all who have been sharing Scriptures, planting seeds and watering those seeds throughout all Muslim ministries in the name of Jesus

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ABORTION IS A NATIONAL SIN

Chaplain Pierre Bynum at the Family Research Council in Washington DC has written a powerful article on the killing of innocents which we need to heed if we want God to lift His hand of judgement on our nations.

Abortion is not only an individual sin; it is national sin that we must repent of as a people. We all share some guilt. We have elected people to public office who advocate for abortion. Many advocate for using our tax dollars to pay for abortions. As citizens of a free nation “of, by and for the people,” we elect our leaders and so affirm the policies they support, advocate for, enact, and execute. Among “we the people,” Christians must do their absolute best to elect candidates who share biblically informed values. We must participate in the process. Abortion, the shedding of innocent blood, is a bellwether issue. Those who advocate for life will usually be good on other issues, too. But when we vote for an abortion advocate, we are voting for abortion and for a culture of death. Of course, we should examine how a candidate stands on other biblical values fundamental to our faith — marriage, family, religious liberty, and other values pleasing to God. The Christian who says, “Politics! I don’t get involved in politics” is denying the responsibility to be salt and light in our nation and denying the responsibility to love our neighbour (all our fellow citizens and those yet unborn). (Matthew 22:21).

We need to take up the baton of the man that produced the video The Silent Scream, Dr Bernard Nathanson.

Dr. Bernard Nathanson built on the foundation laid by Margaret Sanger to co-found the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), gaining widespread support for abortion and ultimately its legalisation. He succeeded in winning generations of men and women to the ideology of “choice” through deception, a plethora of outright lies, and modern public relations and advertising to persuade America to believe abortion was OK. It was not until after he had been personally responsible for the abortion of 75,000 babies that he was convicted and shaken to moral senses.

Dr Nathanson saw, in his first live viewing of an abortion via sonogram technology, the tiny baby in the womb struggling to avoid the abortionist’s deadly instruments. With its mouth open, clearly the baby was screaming aloud although she could not be heard. The “abortion king” instantly decided he had performed his last abortion. Repentant, he sought God’s forgiveness. He later produced a short video, “The Silent Scream,” to warn the world just what an abortion really is — the intentional killing of an innocent unborn human being.

KNOW GOD’S PURPOSES FOR ISRAEL

Daily we need to remind ourselves that anything and everything that is happening on the face of this earth is about God. He has His plan and unchangeable will for His creation. His plan is revealed in the Bible, and it cannot be changed. God chose Israel to be first in His plan, and He is not going to change His mind. Israel’s failure to walk righteously before God in the past does not change God’s plan for Israel today and in the future.

It’s not about Israel being worthy; it’s about God being faithful.

We must have faith in Him and in His promises and in His plan. There really is nothing we can do for God except love Him, draw close to Him and be obedient to His Word. Want to please God? Then act according to His Word.  God treats the nations the same way as each of us. He does not love one nation more than another – He loves all nations equally. But, He does have different purposes and direction for different nations just as He does for us. In particular, we need to know God’s order for Israel.

Israel has a purpose and position unlike any other nation in God’s plan for salvation and establishing His Kingdom.Israel is My son, My firstborn.Exodus 4:22b 

It is important for the Body of Messiah today to recognise Israel’s position in the body as the first fruits.  Check out the booklet  TO THE JEW FIRST by Ari Sorko-Ram to see how relevant Israel’s Feasts (appointed times) are for us today.

We can see from Romans 9:1-5 that Paul understood that if Israel – the first fruits – is not presented properly before God, His plan for the entire harvest would be affected. So Paul says, “I would give up my salvation to see Israel regain her position with God.” Why was Paul the one who was called to the Gentiles? Most likely, he was called because of his deep understanding of the Scripture – because he was a rabbi. Paul had a right understanding of God’s order. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.” Romans 1:16. Which is why wherever Paul went he preached first in the synagogues.

So, people who today keep saying, “It’s not time to witness to the Jewish people” and “God will deal with Israel separately,” are very wrong! It is important we understand God’s plan and get in step with it. Now, is the good and acceptable time for Israel to hear the Gospel!

Note Romans 11:12: “Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!” If Israel, who brought the Gospel to the nations, and then fell away as a nation, has been such a blessing to the world, what is going to happen when Jews comes back to their faith?

Jews that come to faith and knowledge of their Messiah are natural evangelists. Moreover, God has been gathering them (Aliyah) from countries all over the world so they have their languages and cultures. They have the Biblical knowledge… and all they need now is to be born again and quickened by the Holy Spirit.

We all must remember Israel is always a part of God’s plan. Israel may not be the nation of our calling, but it is part of our calling. If we have a heart for the nations, we must have a heart for Israel because Israel is in the heart of God.

Testimony of Reinhardt Bonke: I was praying one morning and the Lord spoke to me: “Reinhardt,” and I responded,
“Yes, Lord.” The Lord said, “Pray for Israel!” So I thought – “I’m going to Israel!” The Lord responded, “No.” So I said, “Lord, if I am not going to Israel, why pray for Israel?” ,,,  Again I said, “Lord, if I am not going to Israel, why pray for Israel?” Finally the Lord responded saying, “Reinhardt, if you pray for Israel, I will give you Africa!”

Pin on The Lord is Good, Believe <3

It is important for each of us to remember, what we do with the first fruits determines what God will do with the harvest. Our God, the Lord, is the Lord of the harvest. But who is the lord of the first fruits? You are! What you do with your first fruits (all the talents and gifts God has given you) will determine what God does with the harvest in your life.