CHRISTIANITY IN EUROPE: GOOD NEWS FIRST, REALITY CHECK SECOND

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GOD IS MOVING ACROSS EUROPE – IN FRANCE, HUNGARY & ITALY

FRANCE: Praise, prayer, and the Word of God filled the streets of Paris recently as more than 25,000 people participated in the March for Jesus in France. The massive gathering of believers across Paris on May 25th reportedly broke record participation when attendees gathered together under the banner “Let’s bear witness publicly and in unity” about our faith in Jesus Christ.

A coalition of ministries organized the event which took place in Paris and four other cities including Lille, Nantes, Metz, and Strasbourg. The organizers said that the gathering “allowed Christians of all denominations to raise the name of Jesus above their theological differences.” “We opened ourselves to the entire evangelical Protestant spectrum thanks to the participation of several churches such as MLK, Hillsong, ICC, and also Baptist, charismatic, and more traditional Protestant churches. My role, as coordinator is to keep unity and unite around Jesus,” Gilbert Leonian, the pastor in charge of the Paris march said. He also said, “If we are here, it is not for a religion or to promote our church, but because there is someone who has touched us deeply – Jesus,”

HUNGARY & ITALY: Another wave of massive gatherings has taken place across Europe since the Paris March with more than a thousand people making decisions to follow Jesus Christ – this time in Hungary and Italy. International evangelist Jean-Luc Trachsel says “the power of the Lord” moved at two huge conferences in Hungary and Italy as people were saved, healed, and delivered. “Everywhere in Europe there are hungry and thirsty people,” he wrote on social media.  Trachsel is the founder of Jean-Luc Trachsel Ministries which works to “bring unity among Christians and to proclaim the Gospel to this generation with mercy and compassion.” Recently Trachsel delivered a message in Paris, for the “March For Jesus”. Trachsel shared about a worship event called “This is the Day” in Miskolc, Hungary. That stadium can hold more than 15,000 people, and it was filled with souls hungry for God. Trachsel reports 1,300 people gave their lives to Christ.

Trachsel also shared a message on the power of the Holy Spirit at the Apostolic Conference 2024 hosted by the “Apostolic Church in Italy” in Rome. The three-day conference brought together a network of Italian churches with 11,000 members. A massive Protestant gathering like this is seen as unusual in the seat of Roman Catholicism. Trachsel recounts that “miracles and healings” took place at the conference including someone who was born deaf and left the conference able to hear and another person who had “blind twisted eyes” could see normally after receiving prayer.

REALITY CHECK: He added that the greatest “miracle” was the souls saved. Much of Europe has abandoned the Christian faith, embraced secularism, and returned to its pagan roots. The number of European Christians is expected to drop by about 100 million, falling from 553 million in 2010 to 454 million in 2050. Meanwhile, Europe’s Muslim population is expected to increase by 63% in the same time frame. Trachsel said he is seeing the decline firsthand in Switzerland where only 3 to 5% of the seven million people are born-again Christians. I feel the time is coming in Europe when real Christians will have to be underground,” he said

Trachsel is correct, the church in Europe will be underground as it is in China, Iran, and other Muslim countries. We need to take Jesus warning to heart:

“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.” Matthew 24:9-13

PROPHESIED APOSTATE END TIMES CHURCH

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UMC drops decades-old ban on ordaining LGBT clergy without debate

The United Methodist General Conference has voted to remove a decades-old ban on ordaining pastors in romantic same-sex relationships after thousands of conservative congregations left the denomination in recent years. 

Bishop Karen Oliveto (in blue jacket) and her wife, Robin Ridenour (front, center), join in embracing delegates and visitors at the 2024 United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C. after the conference voted to remove the denomination’s ban on the ordination of clergy who are “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” — a prohibition that dates to 1984

At the UMC General Conference Wednesday, delegates approved without debate a measure removing the language from the Book of Discipline as part of a broader consent calendar, passing it by a final tally of 692 to 51.

Since 1984, the UMC Book of Discipline has prohibited the ordination of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals,” with many progressives in the mainline Protestant denomination openly refusing to enforce or follow the restriction.  

Applause from General Conference attendees was heard after the vote, with retired Bishop Hope Morgan Ward, a longtime proponent of removing the language, offering a prayer.

“You every day are great God, and every day You are working for good in the world. Stir up in us a desire to serve You, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all creation, and devote this day to your service,” Ward said, as quoted by UM News.

Over the past several years, the UMC has experienced intense debate over whether to change various rules in its Book of Discipline regarding LGBT individuals, which included barring the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals, prohibiting clergy from performing same-sex unions and barring church bodies from funding LGBT advocacy groups.

Although efforts to change the rules at the General Conference have failed in past years, many theological liberal leaders within the UMC have ignored the rules and allowed individuals who were in same-sex relationships to be ordained or even promoted to bishop.

For example, Karen Oliveto was elected bishop in 2016 by the UMC Western Jurisdiction despite being in a same-sex marriage. Although her election was deemed invalid by the United Methodist Judicial Council, the denomination’s highest court, in 2017, she remains a bishop to the present day.

Oliveto gave a sermon at General Conference on Monday, asking those gathered if they were “willing to meet and serve Jesus in the queer clergy person who has been faithful to God’s call even when the Church has tried to deny that call?”

At a 2019 special session of the General Conference, delegates approved a temporary measure that created a disaffiliation process for congregations that wanted to leave the UMC due to the debate over sexuality, with more than 7,500 churches doing so by the end of 2023.

On Tuesday, as part of another consent calendar, delegates voted 667-54 to remove the Book of Discipline’s ban on funding LGBT advocacy groups and mandatory punishments for clergy who blessed same-sex unions.

Article by Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor, The Christian Post, Wednesday, May 01, 2024

MAKING HEAVEN ON EARTH IS OUR BUSINESS

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The founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth made this mission statement: “MAKING HEAVEN ON EARTH IS OUR BUSINESS”.

“When we consider that the only prayer Jesus taught us to pray includes up-front “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is done in heaven” Matthew 6:8-10, Booth got it right, and look what he achieved. Making disciples who were totally committed to praying and doing as Jesus commanded.

Sadly, now, like most institutions the Salvation Army has watered down God’s command and has compromised with the world. What is the lead statement on their website?

At the Salvos, we believe in good.

What does good mean to The Salvation Army? “Good is a unique word — a simple yet profound term that takes on different faces and meanings for all of us.

For the Salvos, it is more than a word – it’s a belief. It is helping someone at their point of need, walking alongside a community through and after a crisis, and lending a kind and caring space for someone feeling isolated. And a whole lot more.

At the Salvos, we believe in good for everyone. It is this belief that drives us to find new ways and places where we can make a difference. From times of personal crisis to moments of national grief, we are at work each day, providing support, safety, community, and opportunity.”

God does not get a mention up front and this mission statement is not Booth’s mission statement: MAKING HEAVEN ON EARTH IS OUR BUSINESS but the Mission Statement does get to God.

Why good?

“The meaning of good has been diluted over the years. But at the Salvos, we’ve always believed in the power of good. It reflects our belief in our good God and our calling to share the goodness of God with others. Through our decades of work, we know people can find themselves in hardship anywhere, at any time — be it homelessness or housing stress, drug or alcohol addiction, family and domestic violence, unemployment, financial stress, natural disaster, or another crisis.“

Sydney, Australia church spokesman Major Bruce Harmer says the Salvos offer services to all who are in need, regardless of sexual orientation. “The Salvation Army has worked for many years with gay and lesbian people through their treatment centres and welfare agencies, we have employees who are gay and members of our church who are gay,” he said. “So it’s easy to take one phrase and run with it, but in reality, the Salvation Army is not homophobic.“

In the end times, Jesus told us there would be a great falling away in the church, apostasy, and the love of many will grow cold. Christians need to be prepared for the coming tribulation and be totally committed to God’s agenda for their lives.

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day (The Day of the Lord) shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;” 2 Thessalonians 2:3

“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and you shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Matthew 24:9-12

Biblical prophecy gives us a picture of the church which God raptures to heaven before pouring out His wrath upon an unrepentant world.

To the Church in Philadelphia (Philadelphus the “love for a brother” What remains of the faithful Church will be bound in brotherly love by the persecution of earth-shaking proportions.

“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name… Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” Revelation 3:8,10-11

Biblical prophecy also gives us a picture of the church that will be left behind to face the coming judgement.

To the Church in Laodicea (Laodicea is a combination of two Greek words (LAO, meaning “God’s people”; and DIKE, meaning “justice or judgment”) Judgement of God’s people

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” Revelation 3:15-19

GROWING CHRISTIANITY IN TIMES OF PERSECUTION

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As China’s Christian Persecution Rages, Is Biblical Faith in Decline or Thriving in the Shadows?

David Curry, CEO of Global Christian Relief, an organization that helps Christians under duress around the globe, believes the church in China based on our methodology, is somewhere around 120 million,” Curry said, though definitive numbers are difficult to determine. If true, this would mean some estimates are off by almost 100 million people. One of the challenges, Curry said, is using self-identifying religious data inside a country that openly punishes Christianity and those who choose to publicly align with the faith. “They have self-identifying as one of the factors which make the number incredibly low,” he said. “Historically, the Chinese church has been underground.” While the church came above ground in recent decades, the rise of Chinese President Xi Jinping has created roadblocks and problems, with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) increasingly cracking down on the faithful. The government looks down upon those who attend church regularly, and children cannot be legally aligned with any faith tradition. “[President Xi has] become more like a dictator,” he said. “It’s gone back underground, because of the increased restrictions. So, to be self-identified as a Christian means to put yourself in the crosshairs of a lot of government surveillance and other things, because Christian behaviour is punished in their social score system, and they have a very sophisticated way of monitoring this.”

In this photo taken Sunday, June 3, 2018, the demolished house church is seen in the city of Zhengzhou in central China’s Henan province. Under President Xi Jinping, China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, believers are seeing their freedoms shrink dramatically even as the country undergoes a religious revival. Experts and activists say that as he consolidates his power, Xi is waging the most severe systematic suppression of Christianity in the country since religious freedom was written into the Chinese constitution in 1982. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

As CBN News has reported, the CCP is reportedly also attempting to rewrite the Bible in its own image, with officials in one area also testing out a new app demanding citizens pre-register before attending religious services. “When you ask people if they’re Christian, they’re not likely to just raise their hand, wave, and jump up and down, and say, ‘Yeah, count me in your survey,’ because they know what it means,” Curry said. Despite these challenges, Curry believes Christianity is, in all reality, increasing in China, with a healthy underground church continuing to grow.  “It’s under pressure … but the church of China is growing,” he said. “I think it’s healthy, despite a lot of the headwinds it’s facing right now.”

Curry said Chinese Christians could help believers in the West who are “in a mode of retreat” amid the cultural changes that have suddenly made those heralding biblical values persona non grata. “We’re in a defensive position,” he said. “And I think we need to look at the Chinese church and the church that’s under persecution in general as perhaps a model of how a church can grow in difficult times.”

We are fast approaching the Biblical prophesied last seven years before Jesus returns to Earth, to rescue the Saints and to pour out His wrath upon an unrepentant world. Persecution/Tribulation of Christians is prophesied to increase during the time the Antichrist will rule the world. Jesus has told us in advance so we will be prepared for the suffering knowing our redemption is close at hand.

“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

“Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21:28

PRIEST EXCOMMUNICATED FOR CALLING POPE FRANCIS ‘USURPER,’ ‘JESUIT FREEMASON’

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Father Ramon Guidetti, 48, of the Diocese of Livorno in Tuscany, marked the first anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s death by claiming that his successor is “a Jesuit Freemason,” which prompted applause from his congregation at his Church of San Ranieri in Guasticce, according to The Pillar.

During his homily, Guidetti referenced reports of lightning striking a statue of St. Peter on Dec. 17 at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of St. Nicolás in the pope’s home province of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Earlier this week, a local journalist confirmed the unusual lightning strike to CatholicVote.org, noting that the bolt obliterated both the statue’s halo and the keys in its hand, despite the shrine’s many lightning rods.

The outlet said it “confirmed that the lightning episode has sparked concern and speculation in San Nicolás and Buenos Aires, especially since the shrine was turning 40 years old and many thought of 2023 as an emblematic year.”

Dec. 17 was Pope Francis’ 87th birthday and one day before the Vatican released “Fiducia supplicans,” which has caused an eruption of controversy among Catholic prelates worldwide for allowing “spontaneous pastoral blessing” for “same-sex couples” and other couples in “irregular situations.” The guidance noted that the blessing is not akin to marriage and that such relationships are still sinful.

“And what did [the lightning] go on to incinerate?” Guidetti asked during his homily. “The halo and the keys. The halo because Peter is no longer holy because there is a Jesuit Freemason linked to world powers, an antipope usurper. And the keys because the good Benedict kept those.”

Guidetti went on to claim that Pope Francis has not been the legitimate pope for the past decade, according to Catholic News Agency.

Jesus warned us that before His second coming one of the significant signs would be apostasy and a great falling away in the church. This Pope along with most of the Denominational churches have compromised with the world on gay marriage and acceptance of homosexual pastors and church leaders.

APOSTATE POPE – PROOF OF END TIMES PROPHECY PART2

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Pope Francis chose Monsignor Victor Manuel Fernández, the archbishop of La Plata, Argentina, as the prefect, or chief, of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in July 2023. He is an old friend Of Pope Francis and is responsible for the recent statement by the Pope on the blessing of same-sex couples. It has now been revealed that in 1998 he wrote the book Mystical Passion – Spirituality and Sensuality which is almost pornographic. He conflates sexual pleasure with mysticism. As the following video reveals Catholics are now horrified by the doctrinal changes he is now making through Pope Francis.

APOSTATE POPE – PROOF OF END TIMES PROPHECY

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A seismic and prophetic event just happened in our culture that confirms we are in the Biblical end times. Jonathan Cahn exposes it and what it means for the end times and your future.

This is just another statement by Pope Francis that departs from Biblical truth and blesses SIN. Our civilisation is descending headlong into apostasy and rebellion against God exactly as Jesus prophesied in the Olivet discourse in all three Gospels: Matthew 24 and 25, Luke 21, and Mark 13. We cannot say that Jesus did not warn us about what Christians will face in the end times before His return including persecution/tribulation.

IS THE POPE COMPROMISING WITH THE WORLD?

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Pope Francis caused widespread controversy and confusion on Monday by appearing to allow priests to bless individuals and couples involved in unchaste same-sex marriages and unrecognized civil marriages, a decision faithful Catholics have said will “produce chaos” in people’s lives “and hurt souls.”

Pope Francis (front 3rd R) poses with religious leaders during a meeting at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican December 2, 2014. REUTERS/Osservatore Romano

The pope gave priests in the Roman Catholic Church, the world’s largest Christian denomination, “the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples,” as long as this is done “without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage.” The decision came through a statement titled “On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings” (Fiducia Supplicans) signed by the 87-year-old pontiff and issued by the Vatican’s chief doctrinal guardian, the Dicastery (formerly the Congregation) for the Doctrine of the Faith, now led by close Francis ally and fellow Argentine Cardinal Víctor Manuel “Tucho” Fernández. The blessing is not to be a wedding Mass, nor a “liturgical rite or blessing similar to a liturgical rite that can create confusion” that implies the Church has celebrated a wedding or nuptial service.

Yet when a couple in a same-sex relationship approach their church pastor, the priest now has papal authority to offer a blessing on them collectively which “unites intercessory prayer with the invocation of God’s help by those who humbly turn to him,” says the document, “a blessing that descends from God upon those who — recognizing themselves to be destitute and in need of his help — do not claim a legitimation of their own status, but who beg that all that is true, good, and humanly valid in their lives and their relationships be enriched, healed, and elevated by the presence of the Holy Spirit.”

Earlier this year, the Catholic bishops of Germany overwhelmingly approved a document — in direct defiance of Vatican directives — promoting the blessing of same-sex unions. The proposal classified homosexuality as “a norm variant of human sexuality” and urged bishops to “officially allow blessing ceremonies in their dioceses for couples who love each other but to whom sacramental marriage is not accessible or who do not see themselves at a point of entering into a sacramental marriage.”

One German prelate, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, tried to discipline a priest in his diocese for blessing same-sex unions. Woelki was promptly reprimanded by the Central Committee of German Catholics. Inspired by this, other priests in Woelki’s diocese disobeyed their bishop and the Vatican to host a rainbow-flag-studded gay blessing ceremony outside the Cologne cathedral. In a letter last month, Pope Francis admitted that Germany’s pro-LGBT bishops were trying to “steer” the Catholic Church in Germany “increasingly away from the universal Church’s common path.”

Meanwhile, bishops who boldly uphold a biblical understanding of sex and marriage, such as Texan Bishop Joseph Strickland or former Vatican official Cardinal Raymond Burke, are ostracized and penalized. However, the norms promulgated by the Vatican on Monday are abused, it is increasingly unlikely that the abusers will be reprimanded, but priests and bishops faithful to Scripture and the doctrines of the Catholic Church will still risk running afoul of the reigning pontificate, which the late Australian Cardinal George Pell described as a “catastrophe.”

This is surely another of the prophesied end times signs being fulfilled in our day. Paving the way for the false prophet and the Antichrist.

CONSEQUENCES OF REJECTING THE GOD OF THE BIBLE

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A spiritual and moral change is taking place in the world largely brought on by rejecting the existence of God, our Creator, and His commandments on how we should live. It is most noticeable in the U.S.A. which was established on a Judaeo-Christian heritage as evidenced by “In God we trust” on their currency.

SICK: Ohio Issue 1, Ads Present a False, ‘Pro-Abortion’ Jesus

The election over Ohio’s Issue 1 which is “Establish a Constitutional right to Abortion”, where ads proclaim that followers of Jesus should be “pro-abortion,” is one such election. For decades, politicians tried to cloak their abortion-expanding policies beneath protests that they were “personally opposed” and believed abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare.” The authors of Issue 1 insist Jesus would amend Ohio’s constitution to give people of all ages the “right” to make “reproductive decisions” ranging from unlimited abortion to transgender surgeries, to potentially allowing prostitution. Watch their ads and read their literature. Issue 1’s sponsors have quietly turned the political initiative into a public bout of spiritual warfare.

Perhaps the most offensive “Yes on 1” ad features a man dressed in clerical robes, overt religious symbolism in nearly every shot, and enough crosses to make the most staid MSNBC host shout “Christian nationalism!” if it supported life. “My faith tells me that people have a right to make decisions over their own bodies. That fundamental idea, that God gives us freedom, that’s at the heart of what it means to be in relationship with God,” says Terry Williams of the Orchard Hill United Church of Christ in Chillicothe, in rural southern Ohio. His parish “affirms the full inclusion and participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer persons in the life and leadership of our church,” states its website.

Like most satanic falsehoods, it contains a kernel of truth. Women seeking abortion need “my concern, my compassion, my solidarity, and my help. There is no division for Jesus in how you treat your neighbor and how you treat your god. And you show your religion by how you care for one another.” Allowing a fully distinct human being to be killed, possibly torn limb-from-limb without anesthesia seems a peculiar way to look out for “the least of these.” But Williams plants the seed of concern to reap the harvest of heresy.

“I am pro-abortion, not in spite of my faith, but because of my faith,” concludes Williams. “As people of faith, vote Yes for your neighbors to have the right to make their own decisions.”

Biblical prophecy tells us that there would be apostasy in the last days before Jesus returns to rescue His Saints, pour out His wrath upon an unrepentant world, and rescue His nation, Israel from the armies of the world at the battle of Armageddon. Jesus will then set up His Millennial reign with the glorified Saints. This world still has 1000 years before it is finally destroyed. The second resurrection then takes place followed by Jesus’ White Throne judgement. The unrepentants are cast into the Lake of Fire for punishment and the second death. The righteous enjoy the new Heaven and new Earth.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:1-4

CHURCHES ARE BEING TAKEN OVER BY DEMONIC SPIRITS

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“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons…” 1 Timothy 4:1

In this verse, where Paul refers to those who “shall depart from the faith,” he is not talking about ungodly individuals who stick their middle finger in God’s face, spit on the Bible, and hate the church. He is talking about believers who will depart from the church, from the truth of the Bible, from the preaching, from prayer, from fasting, and from deliverance and miracles. And the reason they will depart is shocking. They will give heed to seducing spirits. These are evil spirits, and these dark seducing spirits will eventually woo them into accepting “doctrines of devils.”

Doctrines of devils are false religions and other false teachings that dismiss the Bible: idol worship, the worship of man, the worship of objects, the worship of charms and amulets and crystals and horoscopes, etc.; and they will eventually defend every sort of perversion that goes against the Word of God. Church people will literally side with demons, occultism, and witchcraft. If you haven’t seen that come full circle in our time, then you’ve not been paying attention. In short, Paul says there will be demonic activity in the church during the last days that will destroy the church. The influence of demonic activity in the life of the American church is an absolute fact. Demons work to destroy the conscience of their host and have no conscience of their own. A demonic spirit is void of that emotional connection to God, so it causes people to live numb and dry and lukewarm and barren, and in this context, we begin to understand that a demon is nothing more than a person without a body who has taken hold of a human body.

As we see more and more demonic influence in our culture, we need to heed Paul’s warnings. The devil is going hard after the people of God, and no one is an exception. We must buckle up with the armour of God, stick close to His Word, and keep our eyes focused on Christ.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:10-12