Category Archives: Christianity

April 10, 2019 · 9:48 am

With 60 Million Aborted Babies, Why Hasn’t God Removed America Yet? (Part 7)

We have this misguided thought that prophetic voices all work off the same page when they prophesy, but this isn’t true. The Lord reveals to each of His prophetic voices the individual insights He wants each to have so each can bring the specific word of the Lord for his generation.

For instance, Habakkuk and Zephaniah were contemporaries of Jeremiah, but only Jeremiah received the following insight:

Therefore do not pray for this people [Judah], nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you. (Jeremiah 7:16)

This should make all of us shake our heads in amazement that God would ask His mouthpiece – and also a chosen intercessor – not to pray for a nation, heading toward judgment.

And just to make sure that Jeremiah heard Him, God repeated Himself a few days later:

Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry out to Me because of their trouble. (Jeremiah 11:14)

Let’s put this in context, okay? The Lord is speaking about a specific nation – Judah – in these verses, not individuals. Nations have specific seasons when they must repent and change while individuals can repent right up to their dying breaths.

But what if Habakuk and Zephaniah truly believed Judah might repent and thus stave off God’s judgment? Wouldn’t these two prophets have spent much of their time praying and fasting for Judah? Of course, they would have.

So, on the one hand, there were probably two of God’s prophets praying and fasting for Judah to repent and change, but on the other hand, there was Jeremiah who had been told not to pray because God was going to judge and carry off Judah to Babylon.

Was God confused?

No, absolutely not.

God uses His prophetic voices to draw people to Him, to give them hope and to prepare them for the days lying ahead. But we have to remember that not all people walk at the same spiritual level. So, God sends prophetic voices to encourage believers to move to higher spiritual levels without overwhelming them ahead of time.

I like to think of God’s prophetic voices being like the grains in a 12 Hour Contac Cold Capsule. Each grain of cold medicine is a different size from the others. Some are really minute while others are really large. It takes different amounts of time for the stomach to break down each grain size. In this manner, the cold capsule combats cold symptoms for each of the twelve hours.

Hopefully, this helps to explain why sometimes prophetic voices seemingly contradict one another when they talk about a nation. Some may be talking about revival while others may be talking about God’s wrath.

(Continued in Part 7…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

2 Comments

Filed under Abortion, America, Christianity, Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Judgment, Prayer, spiritual warfare, Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , ,

April 9, 2019 · 9:03 am

More Prayers for a Love of the Truth (4/9/2019)

fullsizeoutput_ba3

Do you ever look at America, shake your head and wonder how things could have changed so much in just a short time?

Abortions. Same sex marriages. LGBT. Transgenderism. Racial problems. Youth rebellion. This list could go on and on.

Why?

For the mystery of lawlessness [rebellion against divine authority and the coming reign of lawlessness] is already at work; [but it is restrained] only until He who now restrains it is taken out of the way. (2 Thessalonians 2:7 AMP)

Things are bad, right?

Well, hang onto your hat because you haven’t seen anything yet! How can I say something so pessimistic as this, especially when so many people are talking about a great revival?

You see, most people ignore the following two verses:

Because of this God will send upon them a misleading influence, [an activity of error and deception] so they will believe the lie, 12 in order that all may be judged and condemned who did not believe the truth [about their sin, and the need for salvation through Christ], but instead took pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12)

God would never lie or deceive any person, but He will stand out of the way and allow people who continually ignore the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts to believe their sins are okay with Him.

Maybe that’s why South Bend’s gay Mayor Pete Buttigieg could say, “If you have a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my Creator.”

Now is the time to pray and fast for our loved ones and neighbors.

My prayer today:

Lord, send the Spirit of Truth to open up the hearts of our loved ones and our American neighbors so that they receive the love of the truth and are saved. (Based on John 16:13 and 2 Thessalonians 2:10 AMP)

Join us on Tuesdays to fast and pray for America.

 

2 Comments

Filed under America, Christianity, Church, End-Times, Fasting, Gay, LGBT, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as , , , ,

April 7, 2019 · 2:14 pm

Friday’s End Times Bible Study (Part 1)

My computer has had problems for over a week, but this was the article I had ready to go. So, think of today as a different type of Friday, okay?

The Apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation sometime around 90 AD. He would have been in his mid-70s at the time, being the youngest of the twelve original apostles who walked with Jesus. All of the others were martyred by then.

The Temple had already been destroyed (70 AD), Jerusalem was almost totally destroyed by the Romans (70 AD) and there was no nation of Israel when John received his vision from Jesus. We can only wonder what was going through his mind at the time.

You see, for the prophetic words in the Book of Revelation to be fulfilled there has to be three entities set in place:

  1. The Temple
  2. The city of Jerusalem
  3. The nation of Israel

If any of these three entities are missing, then the prophetic words can’t be fulfilled.

For nineteen hundred years, nothing happened. Many Bible scholars even debated whether the Book of Revelation was an allegory, rather than a prophetic book based on truth. The odds looked so impossible for any of the three entities to ever be restored.

Then, two thirds of the world’s Jewish population were killed in the Holocaust. Two thirds! Skeptics wondered if the Jews could ever bounce back from such devastation.

Yet, out of the ashes, the nation of Israel was born in 1948. Only West Jerusalem was returned to Israel at the time. Another nineteen years passed before Israel annexed the rest of Jerusalem in the Six Days War of 1967.

So, since 1967, only the Temple is needed to begin the time-clock for the fulfillment of the Book of Revelation, but of course, there are a few obstacles to overcome before this happens.

The Temple Mount is revered by both Islam and Judaism. The Muslims built the Dome of the Rock there and consider it the third most holy site for their religion. And the Jews believe the Temple has to be built on the Temple Mount.

How can this be resolved? Can you have both the Temple and a Mosque on the Temple Mount at the same time? Is this possible? I have no clue, but I also have no doubts that God has plans to make the Temple happen.

When will this take place? Soon…

(Continued in Part 2)

2 Comments

Filed under America, Christianity, End-Times, Israel, Jerusalem, Prophecy, Uncategorized

Tagged as , , ,

April 1, 2019 · 9:06 am

I Struggle With Easter!

My oldest memories of Easter include new clothes for my sister and me, maybe going to church, eating a feast at my grandma’s house with our relatives, and having a great time.

So, why do I struggle with Easter?

My birthday is February 9, but let’s say that everyone has decided to celebrate it on February 16 instead, even though everyone knows it’s really the 9th. Wouldn’t that be ridiculous?

But celebrating a birthday on the wrong date is no less ridiculous than our celebration of Easter!

First of all, Jesus did not die on a Friday. This would not have fulfilled His prophecy to Himself:

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:40)

Jesus was most likely crucified on the Wednesday just before Passover which fell on the following day of Thursday and then a Sabbath on that Friday. In other words, two Sabbaths in that week. This would fulfill Jesus’ prophecy of three days and three nights in the grave. (Remember: The Jewish calendar records a day as beginning at nightfall, not at midnight like the Gregorian calendar.)

Okay, but why was Jesus crucified at this time?

Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:13)

For fifteen hundred years, Jewish families had selected a year-old lamb without blemish each year to celebrate the feast of Passover, which the Lord had commanded them to do. This feast was a sign and shadow of what Jesus would eventually become — the perfect Passover Lamb for all of us.

Now, we all know that Jesus is the Passover Lamb and not the Easter Lamb, right? So, why do we celebrate Easter rather than Passover?

Is it because we don’t want to break our man-made traditions? Is it because we believe Passover is too Jewish for us Christians?

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both [Jew and Gentile] one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two [Jew and Gentile], thus making peace (Ephesians 2:14-15)

If Christians ever hope to become the “one new man” in Christ, we’re going to have to get rid of some of our traditions, one of them will probably be Easter.

3 Comments

Filed under America, Christianity, Easter, Feasts, Israel, Jews, Passover, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as , , , ,

March 28, 2019 · 7:54 am

Prayer for Us to Watch What We Say About Trump, Obama and Other Leaders (3/28/2019)

My parents were staunch Republicans. They were not thrilled with Presidents Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson, but I can never remember them calling these presidents unkind names. They respected the office.

But today, we have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media outlets. Anyone can air his views to an audience, without leaving his home. All he has to do is write his viewpoint, or share one he likes from another person, and then hit the “share” button.

I have read some where President Obama was called the Antichrist and President Trump was called a racist. Neither of these are true. Period.

The sad thing is that quite a few Christians join in this madness. The Bible specifically warns us not to do this.

You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people. (Exodus 22:28)

The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries (2 Peter 2:9-10)

Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. (Jude 8)

Christians are called to pray for our leaders, not to slander, gossip or speak evil of them. If we continue in this madness, we can expect God to judge us.

My prayer today:

Lord, send the Spirit of the fear of the Lord to convict American Christians of our words against leaders and those in authority so that our tongues are tamed and the words of our mouths are acceptable in Your sight. (Based on Isaiah 11:2, James 3:8 and Psalm 19:14)

Join with me on Thursdays to fast and pray for the Body of Christ in America.

6 Comments

Filed under America, Christianity, Fasting, Iniquity, Prayer, President Obama, President Trump, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as , , , , ,

March 27, 2019 · 8:11 am

With 60 Million Aborted Babies, Why Hasn’t God Removed America Yet? (Part 6)

If you are reading this, then I’m dead and will forever remain sixty-six years old.

If you are a searcher, looking through the rubble for survivors or their remains, thanks for trying. I appreciate your efforts. If you are a looter who picked up my MacBook Air because you wanted it, consider the laptop a gift from me. I won’t need it anymore. But whatever your reasons, it makes no difference because I’m dead and just glad someone is reading my story.

Oh yeah, my name is Jackson Edwards.

Maybe I better get on with it because I’m drifting off more and more because of the pain.

 

It all began when my doorbell rang a few months ago.

Ding. Dong.

I hit pause on the TV remote and stood up. My sciatica and arthritis ached more than usual so I stretched myself, hoping to work out the kinks, before reaching for the doorknob. Halloween had passed two weeks earlier, but I still took no chances and looked through the peephole first. I saw my bearded neighbor standing in the hallway and opened the door.

“Monsieur Roberto,” I said with a lousy French accent.

“Si vou ples, Monsieur Jackson,” he said in his own second rate accent, pointing toward the living room.

“Come in, my Charismaniac friend.”

He laughed and walked into the living room and sat down on the sectional. I followed and sat on the opposite side of the coffee table in the leather recliner.

“I don’t know where to begin,” he said, rubbing his hands together.

His blue eyes checked out the oak floor that his jogging shoes rested upon. Something bothered him.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Don’t you usually start with John 3:16 and work your way through the rest of the Bible when you come here?”

“Hey, man, I’m sorry if I’ve ever whacked you over the head with my Bible.”

“Just yanking your chain, Dr. Bob.”

He sighed.

“Okay, but I still don’t know where to start.”

“Why not at the beginning? It’s only 7 p.m. and we have all night.”

He nodded and rubbed his forehead with a hand.

“Do you remember four years ago when I told you about a vision a Christian woman had about a gigantic ocean wave hitting Japan? Do you remember that?”

“Vaguely,” I whispered, not being totally honest because I remembered the story quite well. In fact, I even did research on Google and discovered numerous other warnings spoken ahead of time about the tsunami.

“Okay,” he said. “Well, this same woman just had a vision of a nuclear blast hitting us here in San Francisco ─”

“Really?”

“Yes, and not only that, a prophet friend from Albuquerque called and told us a disaster would soon hit the Bay Area. He recommended we should pack up and leave now.”

“Hmm,” I said, leaning forward in the recliner. “What are you going to do?”

“Mary and I sold our condo today, furniture and all. We’re moving to an area near Tahoe.”

“What about your medical practice? And your two kids?”

“My two partners bought out my share and we’ll homeschool our kids.”

Everything moved too fast to grab a hold of what he was telling me.

“Well, it’ll take sixty days or so for everything to close, right? So, we’ll have plenty of time to talk in the future.”

I stood up, hoping to end this uncomfortable conversation.

“No, sadly, we won’t. I made cash deals and sold everything for sixty cents on the dollar.”

I fell backwards into the recliner and shook my head.

“You took a four hundred-thousand dollar loss on your condo?”

“I would have given it away if I had to.”

I opened my mouth and closed it. How do you challenge a person who is willing to turn his back on a fabulous way of life in the city he loved? I know I could never have done it. It had been too hard building a forty-year career in Silicon Valley to end up tossing it away. And a million-dollar condo on Nob Hill? That would have been a laughable goal back in the days of my youth, living in the inner city of Oakland.

“Is this goodbye?” I asked.

He nodded and stood up, offering his hand to me. I stood and shook hands with him.

“Listen, Jackson, why don’t you come along with us? Mary and I really feel some bad things are going to happen in San Francisco and we don’t want anything to happen to you. We love you.”

“No way, I’ll take my chances here on Nob Hill,” I said, shaking my head. I winked my eye and added, “Just remember, my white Charismaniac friend, I’m still one of them jive-talking, hustle-or-die blacks from the inner city. We know how to survive.”

Bob turned and left. I never saw him again.

(Excerpt from Deceived Dead and Deliveredby Larry Nevenhoven, © 2013, Amazon eBook.)

Remember: God’s judgments are on the wicked, not on the righteous.

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

1 Comment

Filed under America, Christianity, End-Times, Judgment, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as , , ,

March 26, 2019 · 8:34 am

Prayers for a Love of the Truth in America (3/26/2019)

fullsizeoutput_ba3

In 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2, Paul answered questions about a misunderstanding the church had about the Day of the Lord and whether it had already come.

Paul replied:

Let no one in any way deceive or entrap you, for that Day will not come unless the apostasy comes first [that is, the great rebellion, the abandonment of the faith by professed Christians], and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction [the Antichrist, the one who is destined to be destroyed] (2 Thessalonians 2:3 AMP)

Okay, think about this for a moment: Jesus will not return and rapture us until after there is a great rebellion by professed Christians who then walk away from their faith.

Now, this seems hard to believe until we continue reading in Chapter 2 and learn that the lawless one (the Antichrist) will have all power, signs, lying wonders and unrighteous deception. So, those who perish and fall away will be deceived by the Antichrist.

Why?

…because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12)

This is not written to argue the point one way or another whether the great falling away involves born-again Christians or in-name-only believers. I’ll let God sort that out.

But it’s written to remind us to pray for our loved ones and neighbors before it is too late.

My prayer today:

Lord, send the Spirit of Truth to open up the hearts of our loved ones and our American neighbors so that they receive the love of the truth and are saved. (Based on John 16:13 and 2 Thessalonians 2:10)

Join us on Tuesdays to fast and pray for America.

2 Comments

Filed under America, Christianity, Day of the Lord, Fasting, Prayer, spiritual warfare

Tagged as , , , ,

March 25, 2019 · 8:52 am

Do Our Personal Sins Hurt Our Neighbors? (Part 5)

I was going through the worst trial of my life where nothing was going right for me. Finances, relationships and everything else were in the toilet, waiting to be flushed. It was all I could do to rise each morning and put one foot in front of the other throughout the day. Then I had a dream.

In it, I arrived in heaven. It was so beautiful and peaceful there. No fear. No worries. No enemies. Only peace. Only joy. Only love. Even the colors were alive and seemed to sing in their beauty to the Creator.

But as dreams usually do, the scene changed and I saw myself standing in front of a long line of young, dark-skinned people. The first one walked up to me and said, “I died young and did not achieve God’s destiny for my life because you failed to fulfill the calling on your life.” When he finished, he walked off.

The second person in line then stepped forward. He repeated what the first young man had said to me. Then, a third. And a fourth. And so forth.

As I stood there and looked at the endless line of young people waiting to talk with me, I couldn’t handle it anymore. I cried out to the Lord at the top of my lungs. “Lord, give me a second chance. Send me back to earth and I promise to not allow pain, agony, rejection, sin or anything else to stop me from fulfilling the calling which You have placed on my life.”

End of dream.

Yet, I can still see the long line of young people waiting to talk with me. The dream continues to work on me, even today.

For many are called (invited and summoned), but few are chosen. (Matthew 22:14 AMP)

The Lord determines the type of calling He places on our lives, but we determine whether or not we are chosen to fulfill that calling on earth by how we endure His training program.

You see, at any point in the training process, we can rebel and opt out. It’s our decision, but we need to remember that there are consequences involved with our decisions.

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

2 Comments

Filed under America, Callings, Christianity, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, Rebellion, Sin, spiritual warfare

Tagged as , , , ,

March 22, 2019 · 11:32 am

With 60 Million Aborted Babies, Why Hasn’t God Removed America Yet? (Part 5)

After his rebellion, being thrown into the Sea, swallowed by a great fish and then vomited onto land, Jonah showed up in Nineveh, the capital of Assyria.

The prophet walked through the city, proclaiming, “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!”

The people and the King of Assyria heard Jonah’s message and believed it was from God. The King then proclaimed a decree which stated that no man or beast could eat or drink water – and – every man and beast had to be covered with sackcloth of mourning.

Can you imagine the hungry and thirsty cries of babies, children and animals filling the air in Nineveh? It had to be almost deafening. What an extreme reaction to a prophet’s proclamation!

And yet, the pagan King had no promise that the Lord would change His mind about destroying Nineveh if the city repented. His only hope was: “Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”

How did God react?

When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened. (Jonah 3:10 NLT)

What if the King of Assyria had decided to check out Jonah’s credentials before deciding what to do? Or what if the King wanted to talk it over with his religious aides first? Or what if the King wanted to just wait and see before he acted?

Nineveh would have been destroyed. It took an extreme and immediate response to stave off the city’s destruction.

Will the Lord send last-call prophets, like Jonah, to America before removing the nation from before His eyes because of abortion?

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

3 Comments

Filed under Abortion, America, Christianity, Fasting, Fear of the Lord, Intercession, Judgment, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as , , , ,

March 21, 2019 · 11:42 am

Prayers for Prophetic Voices to Arise in America (3/21/2019)

If I asked most Christians what happened in Acts 2 of the Bible, they’d answer: “The one hundred and twenty disciples waiting in the Upper Room in Jerusalem were filled with the Holy Spirit and they all spoke in tongues.”

That’s true, but did you also know that Peter prophesied a message for us Twenty-First Century Christians?

“In the last days,” God says, “I will pour out My Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out My Spirit even on My servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy.“ (Acts 2:17-18 NLT)

How many of our sons and daughters are prophesying? And if we consider ourselves servants of the Lord, how many of us are prophesying?

Now, if you’re thinking all of Peter’s prophetic words were fulfilled on that first Pentecost in 30 AD, then you need to look at the next part of his prophecy:

“And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below— blood and fire and clouds of smoke. The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives.” (Acts 2:18-19) 

So far, we have not seen the sun darkened and the moon turned to blood, right?

If we look at Peter’s prophecy and consider the questions I have raised, that means Peter’s prophecy has only had a limited fulfillment so far.

Thus, we need to be like the prophet Daniel and discern the times we now live in and set our faces toward the Lord God with prayer, supplication and fasting to bring the fulfillment about prophesying to the Body of Christ.

My prayer today:

Lord, we believe we are living in the last days so we ask You to pour out Your Spirit of prophecy on our sons and daughters and on every one who is Your servant. (Based on Acts 2 and Revelation 19:10)

Join with me on Thursdays to fast and pray for prophetic voices to arise in America.

8 Comments

Filed under America, Christianity, Fasting, Gifts of the Spirit, Intercession, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as , , ,