Live a Holy Spirit Empowered Life

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Jesus Continued

Why does God often feel more like a doctrine we know about than a Person we know? Why do so many of us think of Christianity as a lifestyle to which we conform, rather than a God with whom we commune?

Jesus gave his disciples the audacious promise that it was to their advantage he go back to heaven because the Holy Spirit could then come to live inside of them. How many of us consider our connection to the Holy Spirit so strong and so real that we would call his presence in us better than Jesus beside us?

In his book and in this video Pastor Jason Greear explains how any follower of Jesus can have a satisfying, powerful relationship with God through the Holy Spirit.

http://video.christianpost.com/the-holy-spirit-inside-of-you-is-better-than-jesus-beside-you-1-5-6418/

 

 

Jesus will rule the Nations

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As we approach Christmas, this beautiful rendition by Pentatonix is a wonderful reminder of who JESUS is and what He has done and is still to do.

Jesus is coming again and when He does it is to rule and reign. Do you know him as your Lord and Saviour? Do you know His Father as your heavenly Father? Do you have the Holy Spirit within you as your comforter, counselor and teacher producing the fruit of the spirit in your life – love, joy, peace, faithfulness, gentleness, kindness, goodness, patience and self control. If you do, you are truly living eternal now.

May you know His love, peace and joy this Christmas.

The Only Gateway to a Relationship with your Creator

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Jesus on Cross

Belief in Jesus as Saviour is the only gateway to a relationship with God.

“Jesus  said to Thomas, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by me.” John 14:6.

This connection with Jesus (our Lord and Saviour) through faith brings forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and a friendship with God – surely the ultimate goal of every person.

Marijuana is widely regarded as a “gateway” drug, which leads some users to experiment with more serious drugs. In a similar way, every time we commit a “gateway” sin, our sin often leads us to engage in other types of sinful behaviour.

Sin becomes a gateway for the human soul to receive “the stuff of hell” rather than “the stuff of heaven” A sinful thought makes it easier to spend more time dwelling on unholy things. Sinful words make it easier to become even more unrighteous in the way we speak. And sinful deeds become a gateway to various types of sinful behaviour.

In that sense , we never really live a “neutral” spiritual life even for a moment. We are either “flowing down the river” of sinful desires, or we are flowing in the wellspring of God’s living water. And the most miserable people on the planet are those who know the Lord, and yet still pursue sins with premeditation. It feels like you are trying to go in two opposite directions. No wonder such behaviour produces deep agony and restlessness within the soul of a believer.

“1. Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2. Blessed is the man to whom Jehovah does not charge iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. 3. When I kept silence, my bones became old through my roaring all day long. 4. For by day and by night Your hand was heavy on me; my sap is turned into the drought of summer.” Psalm 32:1-4

In your life today, what is the direction of the spiritual flow?  Do you find yourself diving into those things which God forbids? Or are you enjoying what the Holy Spirit is producing in your heart as a child of God? Where do you find your joy? Is your soul flowing in the direction of sin, or in the direction of God’s will?  Most of us experience the power and flow of the Holy Spirit, as well as the reality of sinful desires. In fact, they are in conflict with each other (see Galatians 5:17). And yet, the victory is ours through Jesus. We are forgiven, and we are motivated by the Holy Spirit to do those things which please the Lord.

True and noble spirituality isn’t merely about what you did yesterday, or what you want to do tomorrow. It’s about the flow right now, in this moment. As we keep our hearts and lives open to the working of the Holy Spirit , our spiritual lives will flow in the direction of peace and righteousness in Christ.

No matter how you slice it. God’s way is the only gateway which leads to soul satisfaction and eternal life.

Extract from article by Pastor Dan Delzell, Why Every Sin is a ‘Gateway’ Sin in The Christian Post.

The Gathering in Jerusalem

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Gathering in Jerusalem

 

It is now the second day of The Gathering. It is impossible to explain with words what I have experienced over the one and half days of the conference. Go to The Gathering website and connect to the conference ” live stream”. You will be blessed mightily – you will experience what worship will be like in heaven. It is also being videoed so you will be able to get a copy to bless your church.

The most amazing thing is the number of Chinese worshippers that are here from mainland China, at least 1500 hence the conference is being broadcast in English and Mandarin. Translation is available to many other languages as well.

God is acting in HIStory in His city and nation in a new and world transforming way. To see Israeli  Jewish and Arab Christian pastors impacted by the presence and passionate  worship of so many Asians was remarkable. They came on stage repenting of past sins and committing to unite to take the Gospel forward in a new way led only by the Holy Spirit. Only God is able to do what happened at this conference last night and this morning. I can’t wait to experience the worship again and to see what God will do with the rest of The Gathering.

You need to go online and experience it yourself.

Upcoming Trip to Athens and Jerusalem.

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ICCC Athens Conf

I am attending two important events in October and November. The first starts this week in Athens. It is the International Christian Chamber of Commerce Conference, “Possessing The Land – It’s Time”. I hope to post reports on this Conference next week.

Last year ICCC was forced to re-evaluate what God wanted of us when He took both the President and Vice President home unexpectedly.

ICCC is not alone among Christian organisations and churches that are being shaken like this at their very foundations.

I was part of a Leadership Conference in Cyprus in February when the new International Board shared with the ICCC Boards of the Nations their vision for the future. This has now been fine tuned and will be presented at the Athens Conference under the banner “POSSESSING THE LAND – IT’S TIME”. I am excited about what God will do at this conference and of course the opportunity to meet up with many good friends. Watch this space for the reports I will post as time permits.

Gathering in Jerusalem822-banner

The second meeting I am attending which is a very important one is the 822 Gathering in Jerusalem November 10th to 13th.

“At this kairos hour, the Lord is calling forth a remnant, a representation of the family of believers worldwide, to come together as one new man in Jerusalem. In the power of unity submitted fully to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we will stand in the gap and decree that the hour has come for the bride of Christ to wake up and to make herself ready for her bridegroom”.

check out the website http://www.822call.org.

In between the two conferences I am joining a tour “The Hidden Treasures of Israel” sponsored by Kingdom Builders and the Australian friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from Nov 2nd until Nov 10th. It also promises to be an exciting time.

I look forward to sharing with you insights into what God is doing at the “late hour”.

 

A Palestinian, now Israeli diplomat provides understanding and hope

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This young man’s story sheds immense light on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and the only possible solution. It gave me fresh insight and hope. It is a 30 minute presentation, but once you start, you will watch it to the end. A must see video.

 

RADICAL EVANGELISM IN SOUTH AMERICA

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Almost 2.5 million accepted Christ in one day

During the seventh International street evangelism “The Gospel changes” that took place on October 18, about 2,483 567 people accepted Christ, said the press-center of the movement “Gospel changes,” reports The Christian Telegraph.

The evangelism was attended by 26 countries: Austria, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, USA, France, Honduras, Mexico, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Russia, Ukraine, and Uruguay.

Recall that the main motto of the seventh evangelization was: “Together Save 2 million people.”

It is worth noting that during the last evangelism more than 1.6 million people were saved.

Such evangelism is held every three months. Any church of any denomination may participate in the international evangelism. (John 17 unity)

The vision of “The Gospel of change” was born in Venezuela. Due to the movement, which is now bearing its fruits in many different countries, the Gospel has been introduced to millions of people around the world. Despite the fact that the vision of “The Gospel of change” was born and began to spread mainly in the Spanish-speaking countries, it is actively coming to the English and Russian speaking world. The ministers from different countries gather at a huge conference in Venezuela, and the ministers from the Eastern European countries come to Spain to learn from their experience.

CHECK OUT THIS WEBSITE  www.evangelieizmenyaet.com/

Award winning rapper Lecrae: I am here to hold up the banner of TRUTH.

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lecrae

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IpDGu87dm0

Grammy-Award winning rapper Lecrae recently appeared on the New York City radio station “Hot 97 The Morning Show” where he discussed being censored due to his lyrical content being informed by his Christian faith.

“I’m more censored than the most drugged out violent rapper,” Lecrae told host Ebro who asked if he runs into barriers due to being a Christian rapper. “They censor me more than anybody. I’m marginalized, put in a box, so it’s kind of weird. I’m sitting here trying to put substance in music and people are like, ‘nah nah.'”

Lecrae also enjoyed other mainstream exposure performing on the “Late Show with Jimmy Fallon” last month and knocking Nicki Minaj’s sex driven “Anaconda” out of the No. 1 slot on iTunes back in August with his single “All I Need is You.” He shared an exclusive quote with The Christian Post to celebrate that feat.

“I don’t look at it that way,” the rapper told Christian Post. “I think it’s phenomenal to make music that challenges people to think on morality, spirituality and the betterment of society. Many people do that. Some sing country or jazz — I rap.

At the end of the day I’m not here to hold up the banner of a genre. I am here to hold up the banner of Truth. It’s way bigger than genres and charts. I’m fighting to be a voice in culture. A voice in a dark world.”

GOD CAN USE YOU TO CHANGE A NATION

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dominic-russo 1 Nation 1 dayDominic Russo

Dominic Russo of Missions.Me in Honduras

Dominic Russo made history last year in Central America when he took 2,000 missionaries to Honduras for a week to preach the Gospel, provide medical aid and create sustainable change in every state of the country.

“July 20, 2013 was the first day of the new Honduras. The entire time, our goal wasn’t to move people to a moment where they pray a prayer but it was to make that moment the foundation and beginning of a new country,” Russo told The Christian Post.

He highlighted that after that 1Nation1Day event in Honduras, the entire nation’s deaths caused by acts of violence has decreased by 38 percent, the largest drug cartel left the country and the city of San Pedro Sula, previously known as murder capital of the world, has seen murders decrease by over 70 percent.

While in Honduras, he also tried to create permanent changes by implementing an educational, values-based curriculum intended to last six months. However, the Honduran minister of education has now made it a mandate for the program to become a permanent fixture in the country’s education system.

“We have an unrelenting passion to bring the kingdom of God and transformation to the nations. We don’t do anything outside of relationships. We seek deep and profound relationships with local churches and leaders across the nation and our goal is to serve their global vision.”

Russo may be young to have started such a large-scale ministry, but he has known for a long time that he was going to be a missionary. He shared that he felt God’s calling at the age of 12 when a guest speaker visiting his father’s church in Rochester, Michigan, prayed over him and declared his missions ministry. “I felt God for the first time in my life and more than that, I got a sense that I would be ministering to people around the world and that I was being called to an international ministry,” Russo recalled about that critical moment.

“I began to feel a compassion for people that didn’t have a relationship with God, it was an intense pain.”

Russo notes that within the next decade, Missions.Me will focus on working in Latin America and plans on taking their 1Nation1Day campaign to the Dominican Republic in July 2015.

For more information on 1Nation1Day or to partner with Russo and his team for the upcoming Dominican Republic campaign, visit 1Nation1Day or Missions.Me.

 

Author Went From Atheist to Christian while writing book on Horrors of 20th Century

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jason-jonesthe-race-to-save-our-century-by-jason-jones-and-john-zmirak

Author, Jason Scott Jones; atheist turned Christian in the process of writing the book.

The Race to Save Our Century, authors Jason Jones and John Zmirak argue for five core principles to prevent the catastrophes of the previous century from being repeated in the next century. In a video interview with The Christian Post, Jones explains how he became a Christian in the process of writing the book. Check out the video interview on The Christian Post website.

The idea for the book came when Jones was an undergraduate at the University of Hawaii. He pitched the idea for a video to encourage his fellow students to major in political science to the political science department.

“I just wanted to pour the horrors of the 20th century into two minutes,” Jones said, “to create an urgency among young people at my school, and why they should major in political science, because ideas matter.”

The idea was rejected by his “leftist faculty” and the video was never used, but in putting together that video, Jones explained, he discovered the “focus” for his life. Set to graduate at the turn of the century and looking back on the previous century, Jones decided he wanted to help create a world in which the next 100 years would avoid the horrible crimes of that last 100 years.

The process of researching and writing the book changed Jones. When he started the project, he was an atheist and a libertarian. By the time he finished, he was a Christian and a conservative.

In the book, Jones and Zmirak argue that the horrors of the last century stem from five evil ideologies — 1. racism and nationalism, 2. militarism and “total war,” 3. utopian collectivism, 4. radical individualism, and 5. utilitarian hedonism.

These ideologies can be avoided, they say, by advancing five core principles — 1. the unique and absolute value of every human person, 2. natural law (a transcendent moral order), 3. subsidiarity (the defense of civil institutions that lie between people and government), 4. solidarity (which is embodied by The Golden Rule), and 5. a humane economy.

Jones is also a film producer. His credits include “Bella” (2006), “The Stoning of Soraya M.” (2008), and “Crescendo I” (2011). There is a link, he explained, between the ideas found in the book and his films.