Category Archives: Gifts of the Spirit

November 26, 2014 · 8:57 am

Islamic Terrorists Versus Radical Christians: New War. New Rules. (Part 8)

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How to be a Radical Christian. (iii)

For I am not shamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.  (Romans 1:16)

Have you ever shuddered or cringed a little when someone mentioned the name of Jesus to somebody? Maybe at work or a ballgame. Maybe, you thought to yourself, there are proper places and times to talk about Jesus, but not here, not now.

Well, have you heard the tradition surrounding the apostle Paul’s last few moments on earth? Talk about bad timing and bad places.

Emperor Nero arrested Paul for insurrection and threw him into prison. The apostle’s first stay in prison had resulted in most of the guards and many in Nero’s household converting to Christianity. So this time, Nero made sure that Paul had little contact with people or visitors.

On the day of Paul’s execution, Nero allowed just a few spectators and only the most hardened, veteran soldiers to escort the apostle to the execution site, outside Rome on the Tiber River.

Paul was unfazed by his fast approaching martyrdom. He preached the gospel as he walked along. His words touched the hearts of more than one soldier, and they also were executed with Paul that day.

Just think, Paul so believed in the life-giving message of the gospel that he was willing to seal the fates of any last-minute converts to the same death that was pronounced over him: beheading.

Now, that is a radical love for the gospel.

And that is what every radical Christian must have. A love for the gospel that can only be extinguished by the death of the believer.

(Continued in Part 9)

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November 25, 2014 · 9:42 am

Tuesday’s Prayers for America (11/25/2014)

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What’s the main difference between believers in America and the believers in North Korea, China, India, and Somalia?

We have options.

For instance, when American believers are sick, we pray and ask the Lord to heal us. Then, if we aren’t healed right away, we go to a doctor or a hospital. This is true for when we’re hungry, need rent money, or whatever. We have numerous avenues of hope to consider, besides just waiting on the Lord and His answers.

Let’s now consider the believers in North Korea. They have one option: God. If God does not show up, the North Korean believers might die or starve or be thrown into prison. God is their only hope.

Okay, who has the greater level of faith and trust in God? We believers in America or those in North Korea/China/India/Somalia?

Actually, it’s a no-brainer, right?

Somehow, we American believers have to develop our faith and trust levels in God now…before the bad times hit our communities.

Today, I prayed:

Lord, help us American believers to actually trust in You with all our hearts, to not lean on our own understanding, and to acknowledge You in all our ways so that You will make our paths straight. (Based on Proverbs 3:5-6)

What do you think and did the Lord speak to you today?

Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for America.

Click on to see MyGFA site.

Click on to see MyGFA site.

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November 24, 2014 · 3:30 pm

Why Should we Care About India? Don’t We Have Enough Problems in America?

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When Count Zinzendorf and the Moravian Church began sending out missionaries to the West Indies in 1732, did Germany have any problems? Are you serious? Germany was in a constant state of war. Young men were being killed by the thousands in various battles throughout Europe.

Christian leaders even accused Count Zinzendorf of sending young missionaries to die in distant lands when they were needed in Germany and Europe. Zinzendorf took so much heat that he went into exile and traveled for a few years.

But still, between 1732 and Zinzendorf’s death in 1760, the Moravian Church sent out 226 missionaries to Greenland, Lapland, Georgia, Surinam, Africa’s Guinea Coast, South Africa, Amsterdam’s Jewish quarter, Algeria, the native North Americans, Ceylon, Romania, and Constantinople. They endured terrible hardships and many died in desperate circumstances. These missionaries came out of a group of believers, which never numbered more than 600 members.

Why did Zinzendorf and the Moravian Church send out missionaries? They believed the Lord wanted them to do so. The fruit of their obedience is still being harvested today.

Why should we care about India and Asia, especially since America has so many problems?

I believe the Lord has shone His light on India, China, and all of Asia at this particular moment in history, directing our focus there for missionary outreaches. We can either put on our blinders and ignore what God is doing right now – OR – we can join with Him.

If we choose to join with what God is doing, we may end up reaping fruit for the next three hundred years, just like the early Moravians have done.

And guess what?

If we are faithful to pray, fast, and give for the work God is now doing in Asia, He will help us with our problems in America. You see, God will honor our faithfulness as a fragrant offering before Him and will supply our needs here in America for our families, neighbors, and communities.

Click on to see MyGFA site.

Click on to see MyGFA site.

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November 21, 2014 · 9:19 am

Friday’s Prayers for Prisoners (11/21/2014)

Each Friday I pray and fast for nations where Christians suffer the worst persecution around the world. This week I am praying and fasting for:

Eritrea. 5.9 million people with 2.7 million Christians.

The repeated tragedy of migrant boats capsizing in 2013 has drawn attention to the repressive circumstances for Christians in Eritrea. Those in the Coptic Church enjoy relative freedom, but Christians of other denominations suffer house raids, arrests and systematic torture. Gabriella is an influential Christian in the underground church who was interrogated, tortured and kept in solitary confinement – but she never denied Christ. She describes her time in prison as ‘a honeymoon with Jesus’. (Open Doors, World Watch List)

The Eritrean government has banned all Christian groups except the Orthodox Church of Eritrea, the country’s largest Christian group; the Roman Catholic Church; and the Evangelical Church of Eritrea, a Lutheran-affiliated denomination. With the exception of Sunni Islam, all other public religious practice has been banned. Security forces continue to disrupt private worship, conduct mass arrests at prayer meetings and other gatherings, and detain those arrested for indefinite periods without charge. Between 2,000 and 3,000 Christians are imprisoned in Eritrea because of their faith, and most of those have never received a court hearing or been formally charged. Prisoners are tortured and subjected to extremely poor living conditions, often locked in metal shipping containers or underground bunkers. Several who have refused to renounce their beliefs have died in custody. (The Voice of Martyrs)

Today, I prayed:

Lord, I pray that You send Your light and Your truth into the nation of Eritrea and that You open up the hearts of the Eritrean people to receive the love of the truth. (Based on Psalm 43:3 and 2 Thessalonians 2:10)

Join with me on Fridays to fast and pray for prisoners, according to Hebrews 13:3.

 

Click on to see MyGFA site.

Click on to see MyGFA site.

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November 19, 2014 · 9:42 am

Islamic Terrorists Versus Radical Christians: New Game. New Rules. (Rule 7)

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How to be a Radical Christian (ii).

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels… (1 Cor. 13:1)

Now, I wish that you all spoke in tongues… (1 Cor. 14: 5)

I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all do. (1 Cor. 14: 18)

Once again, I can hear the groans and the shouts. “Not tongues. Anything but that trivial twaddle. I ain’t doing it. No siree, Billy Bob– no tongues for me. Never!”

Okay, relax. Take a deep, deep breath. Hold it for a minute or so. Now breathe out. Continue reading.

Let’s return to the same scenarion as Part 2. Your family is staying at the luxurious Berverly Wilshire Hote (where Pretty Woman was filmed), just off Rodeo Drive in Berverly Hills, California. Your wife and daughter are enjoying the shopping spree, and you are carrying enough plastic cards to pay for everything.

Then, three Mumbai-type terrorists enter the hotel lobby, AK-47′s blazing away and hand grenades exploding. Chaos and confusion reigns as dead bodies hit the floor.

Somehow, you grab your wife and daughter, and hide in a first floor cafe. As you crouch behind a table, you hear the sounds of people begging for their lives. But then, bursts from the AK-47′s lets you know that mercy is not a part of the terrorists’ makeup.

You hear their footsteps approaching the cafe. It will only be seconds before they enter the door. You look at your wife and daughter, tears stream down their faces; they don’t want to die. They want you to do something. Anything. Just do something.

Are you going to pray? If so, how?

Now remember, your mind will be a pile of mush. You will have thoughts about wishing you would have stayed home, or should have gone to Hawaii instead of California, or about spending a nice sunny day anywhere but not where you are at that moment. Plus, fear and total confusion will envelope you.

How will you quiet your mind to pray at that moment?

Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can not be uttered.

Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8: 27-28)

I am prepared to pray in tongues when desperate situations happen to me, but what about you?

Remember: Radical Christians do not care what others think. They swim upstream against the religious current.

(Continued in Part 8)

Click on to see MyGFA site.

Click on to see MyGFA site.

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November 18, 2014 · 10:03 am

Tuesday’s Prayers for America (11/18/2014)

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Ferguson, Missouri, is a powder keg waiting for a spark to set it off. If that happens, many lives could be ruined or destroyed. When will we learn that we can’t win spiritual battles with acts of the flesh?

Today, I prayed:

Lord, I pray that Your spirit of wisdom and revelation will enlighten our understanding so that Satan does not take advantage of our emotions in Ferguson and other inner cities of America. Open our eyes to the power of forgiveness. (Based on Ephesians 1:17-18 and 2 Corinthians 2:10-11)

What do you think and did the Lord speak to you today?

Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for America.

Click on to see MyGFA site.

Click on to see MyGFA site.

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November 17, 2014 · 5:28 pm

Learning How to Pray Effectively in 59 Seconds or Less (Part 18)

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As a new  Christian in mid-1985, I felt the Lord had called me to write and start a large publishing company. This made sense to me at the time because I was the president of a farm publishing company. I was thirty-nine years old, full of energy, zeal, and strength. Whatever obstacles might have faced me, I was ready and willing to plow over them.  In the name of Jesus…of course.

Now, it’s twenty-nine years later.

Most men my age are enjoying their twilight years by traveling or fishing or playing golf, but I still get up each morning a couple of hours before sunrise to seek Him. I still pray some of the same prayers that I have prayed for twenty-nine years: “Lord, I thank You and praise You for the publishing company that touches the nations of the earth in Your name and for Your glory.”

How many books have I successfully published so far? None.

And to be honest, being a successful author and publisher is no longer the driving force within me that it was fifteen or twenty years ago. I have long since laid every book and every writing idea on His altar. If He wants me to give all of them away or to delete them, I will instantly obey without argument or complaint.

My desire is to know Him. Everything else seems insignificant compared to that.

Would I consider myself a failure if the words about being an author or a publisher did not come to pass in my life? No, not in the least. You see, it’s not up to me to make His words come to pass. It’s up to Him and His strength to make it happen.

So, if you think this sounds weak on my part, you are absolutely correct because I am weak.

And my weakness of ambition before Him allows His grace to work in me so that the power of Christ may rest upon me when I pray.

(Continued in Part 18)

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November 14, 2014 · 9:26 am

Friday’s Prayers for Prisoners (11/14/2014)

Each Friday I pray and fast for nations where Christians suffer the worst persecution around the world. This week I am praying and fasting for:

Sudan. 45.7 million people with Christians being 3% of population.

Sudan is a poverty-stricken Muslim country that lost many of its Christians to South Sudan when it became independent in 2011. The regime’s leaders are mainly radical Islamist, and the ruling National Congress Party a means to further an Islamic agenda. Incidents against Christians include faith-related killings, damaging Christian properties and forced marriage as well as arrests, deportations and raids on church offices. Sudanese Muslim-background believers suffer particularly: one believer’s family burned his house down when they discovered he had turned to Christ. (Open Doors, World Watch List)

The civil war, which ended in 2005, claimed the lives of 2 million people. A continuing conflict in Darfur has driven 2 million more from their homes and killed over 200,000. Sudan and South Sudan split into two separate countries in 2011…In Sudan, Christians face poverty, war and genocide. Arab-Sudanese are trying to eradicate black Sudanese in the Nuba Mountains, where Christian villages face daily bombings by the Sudanese military. The government is trying to eliminate all Christian villages, churches, hospitals and schools in an effort to Islamize the country. Although the constitution guarantees religious freedom, Islam remains the de facto state religion, and apostasy is punishable by death under the government’s Shariah law. Muslims are given preferential treatment, and non-Islamic proselytism is prohibited. It is difficult for Christians to obtain permission to build churches. Converts face social pressure and harassment from security services. They typically do not stay in Sudan, but leave everything. (Voice of the Martyrs)

Today, I prayed:

Lord, I pray that the Sudanese believers are zealous, fervent in spirit, serving You; and that they rejoice in hope, are patient in tribulation and constant in prayer; so that they overcome evil with good. (Based on Romans 12:11, 12, 21)

Join with me on Fridays to fast and pray for prisoners, according to Hebrews 13:3.

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November 12, 2014 · 8:40 am

Islamic Terrorists Versus Radical Christians: New Game. New Rules. (Part 6)

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How to be a Radical Christian (i.)

Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. (1 Corinthians 14:1)

Maybe your first thought is: “Yuck! Who wants this Pentecostal/Charismatic, phony baloney, spiritual gifts-type of stuff. Not me!”

Relax. Take a deep breath. Now, continue reading.

Let’s say that you and your wife take your daughter to the mall. Your little girl is three years old and dressed up in a Bambi t-shirt and matching jeans outfit. Everyone looks at her and smiles. She’s an absolute doll. You adore her and would do anything to protect her.

But before leaving home,  you were in a hurry and forgot to use the restroom. Now, you need to go. You tell your wife and, of course, she rolls her eyes and shakes her head. Then she says, “Oh honey, use the one in Macy’s Department Store. We’ll wait here by the kids play area.”

You rush to the restroom, do your duty, wash your hands, and leave. When you walk out of the store, you see a flash and hear an explosion from an Islamic terrorist’s bomb. It knocks you down. Glass particles and debris cover you.

Brushing yourself off, you run to where you wife and daughter were waiting. When you get there, you see bodies all over the floor. You somehow find your wife and daughter, but they’re covered with blood and dead.

Now, what are you going to do?

Are you going to call the police? Or the doctor? Or your pastor? Or the funeral home? Or are you just going to fall down and cry?

You see, at this disastrous moment, you need the gift of faith, the gift of healing, and the gift of miracles to try and raise your loved ones from the dead. And I guarantee that you would do anything to have these gifts at that time, wouldn’t you?

So, what’s stopping you from seeking the spiritual gifts right now? Pride. Bad teaching. Laziness. What?

Remember: Radical Christians do not care what others think. They swim upstream against whatever religious current they face.

(Continued in Part 7)

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November 11, 2014 · 12:04 pm

Tuesday’s Prayers for America (11/11/2014)

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A pastor friend of mine was so upset with some members of his congregation that he paced back and forth in the empty church. He voiced his disagreements aloud as he walked, quoting scriptures to back up his opinions. As he sounded off, the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit spoke to his heart, “Be careful about what you say because I live in them, too.”

My pastor friend fell on his knees, realizing he had wandered onto shaky ground. He repented and changed his attitudes from that moment forward.

“Do not touch My chosen people, and do not hurt my prophets.” (Psalm 105:15 NLT)

Scripture states that the archangel Michael did not dare to speak a reproachful judgment against Satan because of Michael’s reverence of God who had delegated power to Satan. If that scripture is true, then why are we so willing to slam other believers who disagree with our doctrines?

Today I prayed:

Lord, I pray that we American believers become united as one so that the world will know the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom He sent to give life to those that believe in Him. (Based on John 17: 2, 3, 23)

What do you think and did the Lord speak to you today?

Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for America.

Click on to see MyGFA site.

Click on to see MyGFA site.

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