Monthly Archives: January 2019

January 31, 2019 · 2:16 pm

Praying Against National Discouragement (1/31/2019)

Since 1973, there have been over 61 million abortions in the US. In the world, there have been more than 1.5 billion abortions since 1980. (If you want to see a constantly updated abortion counter board, click here.)

Watching the numbers change at the abortion counter board are mind-boggling. They just keep moving forward. Each tick represents another dead baby. And another. And another. And so forth.

But let’s be honest, it’s easy to be discouraged about abortion, especially when we read about New York’s new up-to-the-time-of-birth abortion guidelines, the Virginia governor’s statement about babies surviving abortions and the media’s words.

Why even pray? Why even fast? It seems like such a waste of time. Might as well just not care at all anymore, right?

But what does discouragement really mean?

Being discouraged actually means we’re looking at our problems and seeing them as bigger and more powerful than our God and His leadership ways. But of course, none of us would ever admit this, right?

Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. Revelation 8:3-5)

Maybe my individual prayers are not making a big difference at the local Planned Parenthood Clinic, but that’s not necessarily my intention. I’m praying to the Creator to let Him know I agree with Him and His leadership ways against abortion and that I know my prayers will soon cause noises, thunderings, lightnings and earthquakes on earth.

That’s enough to keep me in the battle against abortion and other major problems.

My prayer today:

Lord, I pray that You would give each believer the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You, that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened about prayer and that we would know the exceeding greatness of Your power backing our prayers. (Based on Ephesians 1:17-19)

Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for our nation.

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January 30, 2019 · 4:51 pm

Politicians, False Prophets and Jesus (Part 8)

Abortion

Christians look back at Roe versus Wade and see the main villains as Margaret Sanger (founder of Planned Parenthood), Planned Parenthood itself, Jane Roe’s lawyers Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, and the seven activist judges on the Supreme Court who voted in favor of Roe.

All of these certainly are culpable for their parts in legalizing abortion, but they are not the main guilty party. That belongs to the blood-bought Church of Jesus Christ.

Surely the Lord God does nothing without revealing His secret plan [of the judgment to come] to His servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7 AMP)

The Lord sees the end from the beginning. So, He had to see that 60 million babies would be murdered if Roe versus Wade was passed, but what did God do with His foreknowledge?

In my mind, there’s no doubt that God attempted to speak to the church ahead of time about abortion, but I believe the prophetic ears of the Church were not tuned into heaven. I believe they were tuned into something else.

And it’s not like Planned Parenthood began embracing abortion in a closet. The organization began openly advocating for therapeutic abortions (protecting mothers’ lives) in 1955. They continued to increasingly voice their support for more liberal abortion laws during the 1960s until in 1969, Planned Parenthood called for the repeal all all anti-abortion laws.

What were the ears of the Church tuned into?

During the 1960s, America was embroiled in the Vietnam War. It began with 800 military advisers under President Eisenhower, increased to 9000 troops during President Kennedy’s years and finally to over 500,000 combatants while President Johnson was in the White House.

The Vietnam War divided our nation and the Church. The bloody images came into our living rooms each night through the newscasts on CBS, ABC and NBC. Every believer had an opinion on the war and prayed it would soon end.

And guess what?

Roe versus Wade was first argued before the Supreme Court on December, 13, 1971, before only seven justices. Two justices, William Rehnquist and Lewis Powell, joined the court in January 1972. Because of this, Roe versus Wade was reargued in front of the full Supreme Court on October 11, 1972.

What else was going on during October 1972? The Paris Peace Negotiations to end the Vietnam War.

On October 8, 1972, a major breakthrough came in secret negotiations between Dr. Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho. North Vietnam modified their demands. Ten days later, a final draft was drawn up and Dr. Kissinger announced, “Peace is at hand.”

On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court issued its Roe versus Wade decision. The landmark decision overturned almost every federal and state law restricting abortion in our nation. From that day forward, the war against babies began with a vengeance.

On the following day, Dr. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho signed off on the Viet Nam peace treaty, which was almost identical to the final draft agreed to in October 1972. Then, on January 27, 1973, the leaders of the formal delegations signed the agreement at the Majestic Hotel in Paris.

It wasn’t until 1976 when Reverend Jerry Falwell began preaching against abortion that the Church began to wake up.

(Continued in Part 9…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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January 29, 2019 · 9:46 am

Prayers for California to Wake Up (1/29/2019)

The prophet Amos lived just ten miles outside of Jerusalem. He was a sheep breeder and a master shepherd and definitely not a professional prophet. But the Lord told him to travel to Bethel and prophesy against the Northern Kingdom – Israel.

Amos obeyed and traveled there to point out the many calamities, droughts and famines the Lord had brought upon Israel because of their many sins. Yet, the nation refused to listen to Amos about repenting and returning to God. Then, Amos proclaimed –

Therefore, thus will I do to you, O Israel; and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God. (Amos 4:12)

Forty years later, Israel met God as the Judge. His guilty verdict against Israel was carried out by Assyria. The nation was erased and led into captivity. It wasn’t until 1948 – twenty-six hundred years later – that Israel became a nation again.

O California, you are much younger than Israel was when it rebelled against God. But you are more accountable because you have millions of Bibles, thousands of churches, Christian TV and radio stations, memories from the Azusa Street Revival and houses of prayer in all of the major cities. So, California, what’s your excuse?

California repent or prepare to meet your God!

My prayer today:

Lord, have compassion on California, raise up hundreds of prophets to speak Your warnings to the cities of California before allowing Your judgments to fall on the state. (Based on 2 Chronicles 36:15)

Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for California and the West Coast.

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January 28, 2019 · 8:36 am

Do Our Personal Sins Hurt Our Neighbors? (Part 4)

How would you like to come back from a short honeymoon and discover another couple has moved into your apartment while you were gone?

Tony and Janelle already lived with us in our apartment because of health issues, but Rick and Marta then showed up, needing a place to stay for a time. We were all friends, but this was not exactly a love boat situation for us.

Carol and I were learning how to live with each other while also learning how to live with other people at the same time. And guess what? Proximity adds pressure, pressure becomes stress, and if the conditions are right, stress erupts.

A few days after our return, Carol arrived home from work to see me in a bad mood.

“Larry, what is your problem?” she said with concern on her face.

“I want to kill the other two couples.”

“That doesn’t sound very godly.”

“Well, God killed more people in the Old Testament than anyone else did. Thus, maybe, I’ll be acting as an agent of God by hanging the four of them.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Listen up, Honey, if you don’t get on your knees and repent, we will never have our own place. Think about that, okay?”

I mumbled something as she left the bedroom, but eventually I bowed down by the bed, praying until peace filled my heart about our situation.

“Lord, I give up. If You want us to live with other people, I will love them and be their servant to the best of my ability.”

My attitude changed right away. Dirty dishes left in the sink − no problem. I washed them. Food left on the counter − no problem. I put it away. Messy living room − no problem. I vacuumed and straightened everything up. Need groceries − no problem. I went out and bought them. Wrong TV channel − no problem. I changed channels.

This revelation dawned on me that day: if I am unhappy about something, I needed to shut up, and fix the problem. This was the only way to live in community with other believers without creating a bunch of laws, which all would end up hating and rebelling against.

This attitude especially helped us in our first three years of marriage because Carol and I lived with other people a little more than two thirds of the time.

(An excerpt from my memoir – The Hunt for Larry Who by Larry Nevenhoven, ©2014, Amazon eBook)

(Continued in Part 5…but if you want to read all the parts to date, you can go here.

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January 27, 2019 · 12:51 pm

Will Being Pro-Choice or Having an Abortion Keep Believers Out of Heaven?

Yesterday, I wrote about King David’s sin of adultery with Bathsheba. In the article, I gave my belief that if  there had been a Planned Parenthood Clinic in Jerusalem, David would have most likely sent Bathsheba there to have an abortion.

My reasoning was that if King David was willing to murder Uriah, a man he knew and respected, to hide his sin, wouldn’t he have more easily murdered a baby that he did not know?

Let’s keep in mind that adultery was an abomination to God and its punishment according to the Law was death to both participants. Murder, whether the victim was an adult or a baby, was also an abomination with the punishment being death.

So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” (2 Samuel 12:13)

Although King David was guilty of adultery and murder, God forgave him because he asked for forgiveness. This is good news, but what’s even more remarkable is what the Lord said about King David a thousand years later –

For after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried with his ancestors (Acts 13:36 NLT)

How could God look at King David’s life, which was filled with mistakes, including murder and adultery, and then declare that David had done God’s will for his life?

God looks at each individual’s life through a lens of grace. If a person sincerely repents of his sin, asks for forgiveness and then does his best not to commit that sin again, God will blot that sin out of the record books. It will be as if that person had never sinned at all.

What an amazing editing process God has for our life’s story if we humble ourselves before Him!

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor (hate, detest, shudder with horror) what is evil. Cling to what is good. (Romans 12:9)

There will be those Christians who believe it’s okay to call oneself pro-choice in regards to abortion, but I totally disagree with them. I believe we as Christians are called to abhor, hate, detest, shudder with horror at the sin of murdering babies. I see no neutral position, which would allow us to hide behind a politically correct label, just to save face with our friends.

Thus, if Christians are pro-choice, then they are really pro-abortion. Period.

Okay, what if believers have called themselves pro-choice or have had an abortion, what can they do? They can do the same thing King David did: sincerely repent, ask for forgiveness and do their best not to commit that sin again.

But what if believers refuse to repent of calling themselves pro-choice or having an abortion?

They will have a conversation with Jesus at the Judgment Seat of Christ and they will suffer loss, but will still hold onto their salvation.

 Pastor Mike Bickle tells of the vision he had about standing before Jesus at the Judgment Seat of Christ. In it, the Lord looked at Bickle and said, “You are saved, but your life was wasted.”

Bickle said he broke down weeping and travailing in tears before the Lord who said nothing else to him. When Bickle finally awakened from the vision, his t-shirt was soaking wet from his tears.

Eventually, the Holy Spirit spoke to Bickle’s heart: “This is a conversation you never want to have with the Lord.”

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January 26, 2019 · 10:37 am

Politicians, False Prophets and Jesus (Part 7)

Abortion

King David was restless that early spring night as he walked out onto the palace’s roof. He looked over the waist high wall at the roof’s edge, taking in the sights and sounds of Jerusalem. His eyes stopped scanning about when he glanced down into his neighbor’s courtyard.

There below him was a beautiful woman bathing herself. He noticed every luscious curve on her body. Even when she finished her bath and he returned to his bedroom, he couldn’t think about anything else but that woman.

The next morning, forty-seven year old King David asked one of his lieutenants, “Who’s the beautiful woman next door?”

“Oh, I think her name is Bathsheba,” the man replied. “She’s the daughter of one of your mightiest men of valor – Eliam, the granddaughter of your wisest chief counselor – Ahithophel and married to a captain in your army – Uriah.”

Each of these men were important to David, but he ignored them, thinking only of his sexual desire for Bathsheba. Sadly, he acted on the one thought crossing his mind at the time: Bathsheba was home alone because Uriah was away fighting against the Ammonites.

He sent messengers to her with a special dinner invitation at his palace.

Bathsheba showed up at the appointed hour. They ended up committing adultery and she returned to her house.

A few weeks later, Bathsheba sent a short note to King David, saying, “I am with child.”

King David was a student of the Torah. So, he knew the Law required the death penalty for the sin of adultery for both participants. Then King David set in place a scheme to hide their sin, but it didn’t work. Finally, he ended up having her husband, Uriah, murdered in a battle with the Ammonites.

But what if?

What if there had been a Planned Parenthood Clinic in Jerusalem at the time? Would this have been an option for King David?

There’s no doubt in my mind that King David would have quickly used abortion as an answer to his dilemma. After all, he ended up murdering a just man he knew to hide his sin. So, most certainly, he would have been willing to murder a baby he did not know instead.

Today, abortion is the answer to one of society’s oldest problems: unwanted pregnancies.

“Abortion teaches a woman to kill in order to handle her problem.” (Mother Teresa)

(Continued in Part 8…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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January 24, 2019 · 10:38 am

Prayers for Families (1/24/2019)

When Jesus returned to Nazareth with His disciples and taught in the local synagogue, His neighbors were astonished at His wisdom and understanding and said, “Isn’t He a carpenter? Isn’t He the son of Mary?”

Both of these statements were putdowns.

By saying Jesus was a carpenter, they inferred that He had no formal theological training under a rabbi. So, how could people pay attention to His words without a proper resume?

And son of Mary? By not referring to Him as the son of Joseph, the people alluded to the rumors that Jesus was an illegitimate son.

Jesus looked at the crowd and said, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” (Mark 6:4 NLT)

Shouldn’t Jesus’ family have honored Him? They had watched Him grow up into being a strong man of faith and saw His godly wisdom displayed over and over again. And He most likely supported His family by being a carpenter after Joseph’s death.

Plus, Joseph and Mary would have told their family about Jesus’ birth, the shepherds, the star, the three wisemen, the prophetic words by Simeon and Anna, Joseph’s visions and more.

Yet, with all of this, Jesus’ family did not honor Him during His earthly ministry.

My prayer today:

Lord, help us to love and honor our families on their good days, on their bad days, on the days when we haven’t a clue about why they’re doing something or whatever because You love families and consider Your children a heavenly family for You. (Based on Ephesians 3:15)

Join with me on Thursdays to fast and pray for our families.

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January 23, 2019 · 11:12 am

Do Our Personal Sins Hurt Our Neighbors? (Part 3)

God tests our hearts to reveal to us what is in them, but just so you know, it’s usually not a good report.

This was especially true about my heart during a 1995 experience. That particular day I had been sitting alone in my apartment, reading a biography about the faith and healing pioneer, John G. Lake. As I turned the pages and read how God continually provided for Lake’s needs, it dawned on me — my life really sucks right now. Where was the God who was supposed to be my provider?

At the time, I owed thousands of dollars to numerous creditors, most of my friends had dropped me like a hot potato, the woman who I thought would be my wife didn’t want to see me and my kitchen cupboard was bare. I was lonely, broke, hungry and angry.

I laid the book down and stood up. “God if You’re such a big God,” I said, “how come You can’t help me with my problems right now? Maybe Your arm is not as strong as it was a hundred years ago. Is that Your problem?”

I sat down, quite satisfied with the way I confronted God. I picked up the book to continue my reading.

Then, all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit burst into the room in His holiness and power. His Presence blanketed me. I dropped the book and fell on my knees. “O Lord, don’t kill me! Don’t kill me! Forgive me! Forgive me! Please don’t kill me!” I said over and over again.

In the midst of my  plea bargaining, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart. “If I wanted to, I could deliver you from all of your problems in a blink of My eye.”

“O Lord,” I whispered, “I believe You and will never doubt You again.”

The Holy Spirit’s heavy presence lifted off me.

How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin. (Job 13:23)

It was the love of God that showed up in my room that day to reveal my transgression (or rebellion) to me. I still treasure that experience.

(Continued in Part 4…but if you want to read all the parts to death, you can go here.

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January 22, 2019 · 1:30 pm

Prayers for California to Wake up (1/22/2019)

The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to Timothy in 63 AD, encouraging him and the churches to pray, intercede and give thanks for all men, but especially for their government leaders so that the believers might lead quiet and peaceable lives.

The main government leader at the time was Emperor Nero, head of the Roman Empire.

What happened next?

A great fire broke out in Rome in 64 AD, destroying great portions of the city. Nero laid much of the blame on Christians and hunted them down. Horrific tortures were inflicted on Christians with thousands of believers being martyred. Paul, himself, was beheaded by Nero in 67 AD.

But guess what?

Christianity grew and became stronger during these four years of heavy persecution, which ended in 68 AD, at Nero’s death.

Just think for a moment: Paul and the believers prayed, interceded and gave thanks for Nero during this cruel time period, hoping for peace. Yet, it took four years for their prayers to produce peace in the Roman Empire. Four years until their breakthrough!

This should give California believers hope!

The newly installed California government is not a Christian-friendly one nor can we expect Bible-based laws to be enacted in the days ahead. But let’s follow Paul’s exhortation by giving thanks, intercessions, supplications and prayers for the following government leaders, believing that God will have His way in California:

Governor Gavin Newsom.

Lt. Governor Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis

Attorney General Xavier Becerra

President Pro Tempore of California Senate Toni Atkins

Majority Leader of California Senate Robert Hertzberg

Minority Leader of California Senate Patricia Bates

Speaker of California Assembly Anthony Rendon

Speaker Pro Tempore of California Assembly Kevin Mullins

Majority Leader of California Assembly Ian Calderon

Republican Leader of California Assembly Marie Waldron

US Senator Kamala Harris

US Senator Dianne Feinstein

Speaker of US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi

US House Representative Maxine Walters

My prayer today:

Lord, raise up a hundred thousand believers who will make a commitment to pray according to 1 Timothy 2:1-2 for our government leaders on a regular basis, believing You will have Your way in our state.

Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for California and the West Coast.

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January 21, 2019 · 10:14 am

Politicians, False Prophets and Jesus (Part 6)

Global Warming

Two years after his An Inconvenient Truth documentary hit the movie theaters in 2006, former Vice President Al Gore spoke at the New Baptist Covenant Celebration in Atlanta.  “Global warming is not a political issue,” Gore told a crowd of approximately 2,500 paying attendees. “It is a moral issue. It is an ethical issue. It is a spiritual issue.”

Gore repeated his views that increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere was causing a global climate crisis. He used four Bible verses to justify his spiritual issue assertion:

Then He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is.55 And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is.56 Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time? 57 “Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right? (Luke 12:54-57)

“The evidence is there,” Gore said. “The signal is on the mountain. The trumpet has blown. The scientists are screaming from the rooftops. The ice is melting. The land is parched. The seas are rising. The storms are getting stronger. Why do we not judge what is right?”

Robert Parham, the executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics referred to Gore as a Baptist prophet and added, “Prophets are unacceptable because their truth is inconvenient.”

Jesus said that we should judge prophets by their fruit. So let’s do that, okay?

First, if Al Gore is a true prophet, the truths he proclaimed in his ground-breaking documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, should be accurate. Are they?

Not really. Almost all of his predictions have failed so far. A judge in England went so far as to demand that nine untruths in the documentary be changed or a syllabus provided for the teachers, in order for the documentary to be shown in the nation’s school classrooms. Gore and his group caved in and provided a syllabus. Others have suggested even more errors than just nine.

Second, money, and lots of it.

Gore earns between $100,000 and $150,000 per speech. His wealth is estimated at almost $300 million dollars. Although his royalty earnings from his books and film projects are pledged to his nonprofit, Climate Reality Project, he has successfully leveraged himself as a climate activist and received invitations to be involved in numerous lucrative deals over the years.

Third, scriptural justification.

Gore’s use of Luke 12:54-57 to justify his spiritual issue assertion has nothing to do with his theories on global warming. He could just as well have used, “Balaam rose up in the morning and saddled his ass” because it’s just as meaningless to his cause as the verses in Luke. 

Fourth, hypocrisy.

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Elijah, Elisha and other prophets of God, not only preached what Israel needed to do to avoid calamitous judgments, they also lived in the righteous ways they expected others to follow.

But a critic of Gore said, “Al’s a limousine liberal, a tiresome pedant and climate alarmist who lives a jet-setting, carbon-profligate lifestyle while preaching asceticism for everyone else.” He lives in an oceanfront six-bedroom, $8.9-million villa — the exact place where he predicted the water would rise twenty feet when the ice in Antartica melts.

Okay, is Al Gore a prophet?

Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. (Matthew 24:11)

I believe Gore’s fruit shows that he is a false prophet on global warming. And if he is the point man who is at the forefront of the global warming movement throughout the world, what can we say about the others who are following him? At the least, I believe they are deceived and at the worst they are also false prophets and maybe even greedy hucksters.

It’s my opinion that God is still in control of the weather and that the global warming movement is an anti-God money scam.

You, of course, need to make up your own mind.

(Continued in Part 6…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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