Tag Archives: America

May 17, 2016 · 9:01 am

Tuesday’s Prayers for One New Man (5/17/2007)

ffoz.org/discover/publications/one-new-man.html

ffoz.org/discover/publications/one-new-man.html

As I wrote in my conclusion of The Search For One New Man series last Wednesday, I feel the Lord has called me to pray and fast for the one new man — “…that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two…(Ephesians 2:15)” — to come into being here in America.

I believe that most of the unity, most of the power, most of the manifold wisdom of God, and most of the Church’s growth has been stymied because the Jews and Gentiles have not been properly joined together as the one new man.

My prayers today:

Lord, I pray that Jews and Gentiles walk together in a manner worthy of their calling as the one new man, with all humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another, and eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Based on Ephesians 4:1-3)

Join with me on Tuesday’s to pray and fast for the one new man to finally come forth in the Body of Christ.

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May 16, 2016 · 6:56 am

“My Church is a Bunch of Nice Losers” (Part 8)

Does it surprise you that most of what we do in religious circles has no precedent in Scripture? This includes many of the activities within church services, the education and ordination of clergy, the routines commonly used in youth ministry, the methods of raising funds for ministry, the ways in which music is used in churches, even the presence and nature of church buildings.

There were three historical periods when a bevy of changes were made in common Christian practices: the era of Constantine, the decades surrounding the Protestant Reformation, and the Revivalist period of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. But as you are about to find out, those changes were the result of passionate, though often ill-informed, followers of Christ. The believers during those periods simply went along for the ride, which resulted in new perspectives and practices that churches have held onto for many years. So many years, in fact, that you probably think of those routines as biblical in origin.

Not surprisingly, having changed the biblical mode of the church, we have become adept at building support for our approaches through proof-texting. Proof-texting is the practice of taking disparate, unrelated verses of Scripture, often out of context, to “prove” that our position squares with the Bible… 

Does it really matter how we practice our faith, as long as the activities enable people to love God and obey Him? The preponderance of evidence shows that these perspectives, rules, traditions, expectations, assumptions, and practices often hinder the development of our faith. In other instances, they serve as barriers that keep us from encountering the living God. The way in which we practice our faith can, indeed, affect our faith itself.

Does that mean that we must go back to the Bible and do everything as the disciples did between AD 30 and 60? No. Social and cultural shifts over the last two thousand years have made it impossible to imitate some of the lifestyle and religious efforts of the early church. For example, we use cell phones, drive in automobiles, and utilize central heat and air. The first-century Christians had none of these forms of human convenience. Therefore, adhering to the principles of the New Testament does not mean reenacting the events of the first-century church. If so, we would have to dress like all first-century believers did, in sandals and togas!

(Excerpt from Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola and George Barna, ©2002, 2008, Barna Publishing, pp. xxviii – xxvix)

(Continued in Part 9……if you’re interested, the full series to date can be seen here.)

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May 14, 2016 · 10:13 am

Why Did God Elect President Obama?

All of Israel should rise up every morning, face west, salute Egypt, and say, “Thanks Yahweh for Egypt.”

You see, it was in Egypt that Israel became a nation. The slavery and brutal oppression by the Egyptians molded and formed Israel into a nation that was totally dependent on God.

If God would have wanted to, he could have created and set into power a Ronald Reagan-like Pharaoh who had compassion on the Israelites and treated them in a godly manner. Then, what would have happened? The Israelites would have bowed down before the Ronald Reagan-like Pharaoh and stayed in Egypt. And today, they would still be singing songs about the Ronald Reagan-like Pharaoh.

Yet, God had a different plan.

But for this purpose I have raised you [Pharaoh] up, to show you My power, so that My name may be proclaimed in all the earth. (Exodus 9:16)

Ouch! We love-dovey Christians don’t like to think that God would raise up a vessel of dishonor or a vessel of wrath prepared for destruction, such as a Pharaoh, so that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy.

Okay, what about President Obama?

I had a vision during the 2008 presidential primaries when Obama and Hillary were fighting it out for the Democratic nomination. In it, the hand of God reached down from heaven and touched Barack Obama on his head. Sadly, I misinterpreted the vision by a country mile or two at the time, but that does not negate the vision.

God chose Barack Obama to be America’s 44th President. Period.

Now, why would God do this?

So that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:27)

Because we believers have little discernment and are so earthly minded, we usually miss the purposes of God in our trials. We look for comfort and escape whereas He uses our distresses and hardships as hammers and chisels to form us into the image of His Son.

What should we do?

We need to fast and pray like the Prophet Daniel did in Babylon, something like this:

“O Lord, You are great and awesome! You always fulfill Your covenant and keep Your promises of unfailing love to those who love You and obey Your commands. But America has sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against You and scorned Your commands and regulations. We have refused to listen to Your servants the prophets…

Lord, You are in the right; but as You see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us. O Lord, we and our President, other leaders, and citizens are covered with shame because we have sinned against You. But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we have not followed the instructions He gave us through His servants the prophets. All of America has disobeyed Your instruction and turned away, refusing to listen to Your voice…

So now, the solemn curses written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured down on us because of our sins. You have kept Your word and done to us and our leaders exactly as You warned. Every curse written against us in the Law of Moses will soon come true. Yet, we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing His truth…

In view of all Your faithful mercies, Lord, please turn Your furious anger away from America. All the nations of the world mock us because of our sins.

(Excerpt from Common Sense 2016 by Larry Nevenhoven, ©2016, Amazon eBook)

Just remember: all of Israel was delivered out of Egypt, all walked through the Red Sea, but only two geezers, Joshua and Caleb, crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land. The rest of them had their bodies scattered in the wilderness.

This is the time to put our hands to the plow and not look back.

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May 12, 2016 · 9:20 am

Thursday’s Prayers for America (5/12/2016)

I was once a part of a merger between a Charismatic Church and a Southern Baptist Church. It was an interesting experiment with the Charismatics praying in tongues, prophesying, raising their hands, and dancing in the aisles while the more sober-minded Baptists looked on.

One of the senior Baptist elders said, “I love how you Charismatics worship God, but I couldn’t do that.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Well, I have more than a half century of being against Charismatics and their gifts to ever change my ways now.”

“Really? You don’t believe the Holy Spirit can change you?”

“In theory, yes,” he said, “but in reality, no. You see, it’s just too hard to unlearn all of my teachings.”

My prayer today:

Lord, help us American believers to strip ourselves of every weight that slows us down and let us run with endurance the race You have set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. (Based on Hebrews 12:2-3)

What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you today?

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

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May 11, 2016 · 10:07 am

The Search for One New Man (Conclusion)

During the reign of King Jehoiakim, and over fifteen years before Nebuchadnezzar carried off most of Judah to Babylon, Jeremiah had prophesied that Judah would be held in captivity for seventy years.

All of the scribes and priests had access to the prophecies of Jeremiah, but the Bible only states that the old prophet, Daniel, understood it was time for the captivity of Judah to be finished in Babylon. So, Daniel humbled himself with fasting, supplications, and prayers, interceding for the Lord to act upon Jeremiah’s prophecy.

While Daniel was still speaking, praying, and confessing his sin and the sin of Israel, the angel Gabriel showed up and said:

“O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you… (Daniel 9:22-23)

In the above example, we read how the Holy Spirit enlightened Daniel to pray Jeremiah’s prophecy into being. Then, while Daniel is still praying, Gabriel arrives to give the old prophet even more understanding.

Okay, this is the exact same place I believe we stand right now with:

...that he might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace (Ephesians 2:15)

There is no use attempting to bring unity to the Body of Christ if the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers are not brought into the one new man relationship. We Gentiles need the Jewish believers and the Jewish believers need us.

Without the one new man coming into being, we will not attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the fullness of Christ. We instead will continue to be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

If the Jews and Gentiles in the whole Body are not rightly joined and held together, each part will not work properly and the Body will not grow and be built up in love.

Eventually, the one new man has to arrive at this level of power, love, and revelation:

so that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 3:10)

Because I feel this is so important right now, I’m changing my Tuesday regimen of praying and fasting for the prisoners of Asia, which has been my practice for more than four years. But instead, I will be fasting and praying for the one new man to come forth in the Body of Christ.

Who knows? Maybe Gabriel will show up and give us understanding.

If you agree and feel the Holy Spirit is leading you to do so, join me on Tuesdays in fasting and praying for the one new man.

(Conclusion for now……if you’re interested, the full series to date can be seen here.)

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May 9, 2016 · 10:09 am

“My Church is a Bunch of Nice Losers” (Part 7)

Eight years ago, a blogger from a well-known ministry’s website read one of my articles on Larry Who and asked me to read an article about prophecy and prophets on their website and then write a comment. I felt honored and did so.

The article was well-written, but there was one sentence which I disagreed with —

“From this we can learn that a ‘go alone prophet’ is not good, nor biblical..”

I wrote, “A lot of this sounds good, but sadly some of it is not scriptural.”

Oh my Lord, you would have thought I had written a blasphemous comment. The blogger and ministry head commented back and forth with me for almost two weeks.

Later, the ministry head wrote:

I think there’s an important spiritual point you’re missing here in terms of what Andrew was trying to communicate. Perhaps you can step back and reflect on the principle? My point here is not that everything must comes of out the home base in a region, but that if God sends someone into a region where He already has His people laboring in right relationship with Him, then there is no reason for a “go alone prophet.” Otherwise, there is confusion, lack of mutual submission and accountability, among other things, and the Word is pretty clear about all this being important.

I answered by writing:

Let’s say there is a city named Christian City. In Christian City there are fifty churches and each is in right relationship with the Lord and with the other churches. There are numerous quality apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, elders, and deacons in Christian City.

Now, two thousand miles away, a prophet lives in a hut. He thinks the Lord has directed him to go and speak in Christian City. He jumps on a jet, flies to Christian City, takes a taxi to the city square of Christian City, pays the driver, walks to the middle of the city square and begins to prophesy to the people and the government of Christian City. All of this is done without talking to another Christian (except maybe to his wife).

Now, are you saying that God would not do this? That He no longer will send a Jonah-type prophet to a city to speak His words?

We eventually agreed to disagree on this issue.

Okay, I admit to being a stubborn believer, but I also believe that Scripture cannot be bent to justify our teachings, theologies, and beliefs. If Scripture does not agree in total with our thinking, we should not extrapolate from here and there throughout the Bible, trying to make our doctrines work.

And this is the main reason why the Church is a bunch of nice losers.

(Continued in Part 8……if you’re interested, the full series to date can be seen here.)

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May 7, 2016 · 9:33 am

My Church is a Bunch of Nice Losers? (Part 6)

Let’s set the stage first:

In April, the North Carolina state legislators passed a wide-ranging bill which barred transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms that do not match the gender on their birth certificates. Almost immediately, Bruce Springsteen, Pepsi, Whole Foods, General Electric, IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, NFL, NBA, and so forth have boycotted or threatened to boycott North Carolina because of their legislative stand.

Then a week later, Target announced that transgender team members and guests may use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their transgender identities. The American Family Association (AFA) called for a boycott by Christians of Target Stores, which to date over 1,000,000 have signed the pledge to boycott Target.

Okay, what’s wrong with this picture?

Blow the trumpet in Zion,
Consecrate a fast,
Call a sacred assembly;

Gather the people,
Sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and nursing babes;
Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber,
And the bride from her dressing room.

Let the priests, who minister to the LORD,
Weep between the porch and the altar;
Let them say, “Spare Your people, O LORD,
And do not give Your heritage to reproach,
That the nations should rule over them.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’” (Joel 2:15-17)

Once again, the Church has listened to the trumpet of the flesh and used a world system weapon: boycotting. This is so dumb on our part! It reveals to the whole world what a bunch of nice losers we believers are; and of course, the unbelievers are asking, “Where is their God?”

Don’t Christian leaders who support the Target boycott have Bibles? Don’t they understand that boycotts are nothing but fleshly stands against spiritual foes? Or have these leaders decided it’s easier to go the way of the flesh rather than fasting, praying, and trusting God?

No doubt, most of us Christians, would rather sign our names to a boycott pledge and then drive to a different store, rather than shopping at Target. What does this act cost us? Nothing! Zero. Nada!

But then again, this is how the Church has fought abortion, gay agendas, secularism, and everything else Satan has thrown at America. It’s no wonder we lose!

(Continued in Part 7…if you’re interested, the full series to date can be seen here.)

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May 5, 2016 · 9:04 am

Thursday’s Prayers for America (5/5/2016)

Was God taken by surprise that hardhearted Thutmoses III was the Pharoah of Egypt when Moses led Israel out of that nation?

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him…But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you My power, so that My name may be proclaimed in all the earth. (Exodus 9:13, 16)

Was God taken by surprise when eight year old Josiah took the throne over Israel in 640 BC?

“Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.” (1 Kings 13:2 — this prophecy was spoken 300 years earlier.)

Okay, then was God taken by surprise when Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton became –what looks like– their respective party’s nominees for President?

My prayer today:

Lord, I pray that Your redemptive purposes and divine plans are fulfilled by whomever becomes the next President of the United States.

What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you today?

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

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May 2, 2016 · 10:46 am

My Church is a Bunch of Nice Losers (Part 5)

Bob Jones told this story about himself:

In the late 1980s, the Lord told Jones that Jimmy Swaggart would have his sexual sin publicly revealed for all to see. Jones then told his friends and his church. When the news about Swaggart was finally released in the media, Jones and his friends rejoiced and acted with festive attitudes. “We got Swaggart,” they said to one another.

The Lord also spoke to Paul Cain about Jimmy Swaggart, but Cain told no one. When Cain heard the news on TV about Swaggart’s sin being exposed, he spent the day weeping before the Lord for Swaggart, his family, and the Body of Christ.

Jones later repented of his attitude and used it as an example of how “knowledge puffs us up, but love edifies all.”

God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (James 4:6)

The Greek word antitassō, which is translated into the English word resists in the above verse, is a military term and actually means to battle against. Thus, God battles against pride.

The foul sin of pride is the number one method Satan uses to derail us believers in spiritual battles. He knows that if he can get us to move from humility — a position of spiritual strength — into pride, God who honors His word will battle against us.

Sadly, we believers often resemble James and John after a village did not accept Jesus and His ministry. “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”

The two disciples had just returned from a ministry trip in which they had witnessed the power of God healing and delivering people. Now, puffed up by their ministry success, they wanted to use this same power to destroy the people who disagreed with them.

Jesus rebuked them and said:

“You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” (Luke 9:55-56)

(Continued in Part 6…if you’re interested, the full series to date can be seen here.)

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April 28, 2016 · 8:12 am

Thursday’s Prayers for America (4/28/2016)

 

When I was 9 years old, my dad taught me how to drive a 1940 Plymouth Coupe. It had a stick shift and more than a few dents. He would allow me to drive the car out to the pasture to herd the cows, and every so often, if Mom didn’t know, he’d let me drive the old coupe to the Haldane Elevator.

“Just a young boy with two hands on the wheels…but I was Mario Andretti when Daddy let me drive.” (Drive by Alan Jackson.)

Today, I still can’t listen to Jackson sing his song without tearing up. You see, the memories of Dad allowing me to drive his old car are still so precious to me. And as Jackson sang: “I can’t replace the way it made me feel…”

I was blessed to have a dad who loved me and who left me with such wonderful memories.

But over the years, I’ve learned that not every child has had a wonderful father like mine. Some children suffered from abusive fathers. Some suffered with a alcoholic or drug addicted fathers. Some fathers weren’t there for their children. On and on the woes can be added up.

My prayer today:

Lord, send Your prophets with the Elijah spirit upon them so that their proclamations will turn the hearts of fathers back to their children and the children’s hearts back to their fathers. O Lord, do this before it’s too late. (Based on Malachi 4:5-6)

What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you today?

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

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