Tag Archives: America

April 27, 2016 · 9:44 am

“My Church is a Bunch of Nice Losers” (Part 4)

It was a Wednesday night, which meant the Iowa State campus bars were busy. I parked on a side street near the largest beer joint, repositioned my cap with its JESUS lettering on the front, picked up my Bible, and headed for the place.

I walked inside and over to the bar on the side wall. The bartender wiped the counter in front of me. “What would you like, sir?” he asked.

“A Pepsi,” I replied.

He laughed. “Tell you what I’m going to do, this one’s on the house. You just might add some excitement to our crowd tonight,” he said, pouring ice and Pepsi into a tall glass.

I thanked him, turned around, and walked over to the largest table I could find. I sat down and began reading my Bible, even though loud music blasted through an overhead stereo system.

A few minutes, a frat guy and his date stopped by my table. “What are you doing?” he asked, sipping his beer.

I looked up and smiled. “I’m holding a Bible study,” I said.

“You can’t hold a Bible study in a bar!”

“Yes, I can. This is the perfect place.”

“You should really hold your study in a church or maybe in your home.”

“That’s where I used to hold Bible studies, but you and your friends didn’t show up there. So, I’ve decided to come where you are – to the bars.”

“You’re a nut!”

“Yes, I’m a nut for Jesus.”

He and his girl friend shook their heads and walked away.

But it wasn’t long before six or seven students sat at my table and a bunch of kids stood around us. All fired questions at me, about my beliefs, about Bible concerns, and so forth. One girl summed up what everyone felt: “Jesus would never walk into a campus bar. He wouldn’t do that!”

“Well, He came here tonight,” I said, “because He lives in me. And you know what? Jesus absolutely loves you because He went to the cross with you on His mind.”

What did I accomplish at that campus bar?

I really have no clue, but I felt the Lord wanted me to go there. So I just obeyed Him.

Now, to be honest, as I walked from my truck to the front door of the bar, my brain screamed: “You’re crazy to do this. God would never want you to do this. Why the bouncer will pick you up by your neck and through you out into the street. Jesus’ name will be muddied by your actions.”

After I opened the bar’s door and stepped inside, my brain shut up and His grace fell upon me. I felt bold as the Lion of Judah.

This was the night I learned that the Lord’s grace, boldness, and anointing awaited us in the action, not outside on the street, looking in.

Jesus said, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel,” and on that particular autumn night in 1993, the walls encircling my world fell down.

(Continued in Part 5…if you’re interested, the full series to date can be seen here.)

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April 23, 2016 · 11:08 am

The Rumors of Larry’s Death Were Not Greatly Exaggerated (Part 13)

(Click on photo to enlarge)

(Click on photo to enlarge)

A Catholic friend of mine hungered for the baptism of the Holy Spirit for many months. Her trips to large Charismatic Renewal conferences in Des Moines and Kansas City resulted in nothing happening for her.

So, she came up with a Plan B. When her husband left for work and her children attended school, she would go into the living room, place candles on the floor, light them, and bow down in the middle of the lit candles. There she cried out to God for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Plan B failed, too.

On a July 4th holiday weekend, she invited another family to their home for a picnic. What says Independence Day more than hot dogs, potato salad, and a picnic, right? While she stirred a large batch of potato salad, she looked out the window at her friends and husband, and at that precise moment, she was baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.

Now, think about this for a few seconds. What was God thinking when He baptized her in the Holy Spirit at that awkward moment? Couldn’t He have performed it at a more opportune time?

REMEMBER: God is Boss and He chooses the breakthrough times in our lives. We don’t!

A little over four weeks ago, I turned on the water, stepped into the shower, and the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart: “Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship.”

I was absolutely shocked because I had not thought about that particular men’s fellowship in over twenty-five years. The FGBF had been an important part of my life in my early Christian years, but I had drifted away when I moved to Ames, Iowa.

As soon as I dried myself and slipped on some clothes, I rushed downstairs to check on the computer for the nearest FGBF chapter. None were nearby or within fifty miles. Yet, in my Google searches, I ran across another businessmen’s group: Business Men’s Fellowship. There was a local phone number for BMF and I called it.

My phone call resulted in a meeting at Starbucks with Bill Keith, who had moved to Temecula a few months before and happens to be a great guy and the national president for Business Men’s Fellowship. What a remarkable coincidence, right?

We talked for a few minutes and then I looked at him and said, “I’ve been waiting for twenty-two years for you. Where have you been?”

(Continued in Part 14…if you’re interested, the full series to date can be seen here.)

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April 21, 2016 · 10:57 am

Thursday’s Prayers for America (4/21/2016)

The vibrant sounds of Mozart’s Piano Concerto Number Seven swirled through the Beacon Hill mansion’s ballroom. The fifteen females seated around the grand piano, listening to the maestro, had proper Brahmin names like Cabot, Coolidge, Forbes, Lodge, or Shaw. Each traced her ancestry back to the earliest Puritan settlers of Boston. This blueblood lineage insured their invitation to the social tea, no nouveau riche Johnny-come-latelies were among the invitees.

When the pianist completed the piece, he stood and bowed. The women showed their appreciation with warm applause. One of the ladies put her white-gloved hands to her mouth and said, “Oh, I would just do anything to be able to play the piano like that.”

The maestro turned and stared at her. His eyes exploded with fire.

“No you wouldn’t,” he said.

The crowd gasped in unison. All felt sorry for the woman who had been openly rebuked by the man’s insensitive words.

As for the lady, she sat stunned, paralyzed by his harsh eyes, tears rolled down her cheeks. Then, as if she remembered her privileged pedigree, she mouthed three defiant words at the pianist: “Yes, I would.”

“No you wouldn’t,” he said again, leaning over the piano toward the lady.

“Because if you really meant what you said, you would have been willing to give up your youth, your teenage years, and eight to ten hours every day practicing on the piano. You see there is a price to sit on this bench. I’ve been willing to pay it, and you have not!”

(Excerpt from Deceived Dead And Delivered by Larry Nevenhoven, ©2013, Amazon eBook)

Like the short story, there’s a price which must be paid if you want to win spiritual battles. There are no shortcuts!

My prayer today:

Lord, raise up thousands of American believers who are willing to endure afflictions and hardships for the sake of Your church in America and who are also willing to fight the good fight until death without criticizing Your followers that lack the same intensity and may even oppose these warriors. (Based on 2 Timothy 2:10 and Matthew 7:1-6)

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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April 18, 2016 · 8:57 am

Will America Survive? (Part 3)

I really believe that God is backing Donald Trump’s bid to become the Republican candidate for President of the United States.

Okay, okay, relax for a moment. Take a deep breath and then continue reading.

No doubt, it’s easy for all of us to point out Trump’s flaws and his lack of Christian credentials. What you see with Trump is pretty much what you get: a seventy-year old man with swooped back hair, wearing a Brioni suit and dripping with pride, petty anger, lack of graciousness, intelligence, and bravado. He is what he is and nothing more.

Aha, so why would God back him?

Trump is the perfect tool in God’s hands to expose the Republican Party — GOP, as in God’s Own Party — to us Christians. And oh my! Has he ever! Trump has ripped open the underside of the Republican Party and exposed the party as a bunch of lying, conniving, manipulating, money-hungry scalawags that cares little about us believers, except for needing Evangelicals to keep them feeding at the money trough.

“Deception lasts until the faith for it is all used up.” (Francis Frangipane)

We Christians should praise God for Donald Trump. We should rejoice that our eyes are opened to the whitewashed deception that is the Republican Party and our involvement with it. We should bow on our knees and repent for placing our hopes for America in the GOP. We should then say, “Lord, what do You want us to do?”

Will Donald Trump become President of the United States? Maybe, but I do not know for sure.

Will America survive?

I believe America will survive – and may even see prosperity again – for a few more years, but we need to use this time of grace to wisely prepare for the horrible times that await us. How well we and our families handle the bad times in the future depends on  our preparations now.

(Conclusion…the full series can be seen here.)

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April 17, 2016 · 11:57 am

Will America Survive? (Part 2)

Frank Schaeffer, son of Francis Schaeffer, wrote a best-selling memoir, Crazy for God: How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back. His quote — “We helped make a movement that went totally off the rails and, of course, politically is still going now” — mainly refers to his disenchantment with Evangelical Christianity from his insider’s view of the participants.

But more on that later.

Let’s say that Francis Schaeffer was busy reading a book and didn’t watch TV the night Rev. Jerry Falwell preached at the televised crusade in 1978. Then, they probably would never have met. Then, Rev. Jerry Falwell would not have been involved in politics. Then, the Moral Majority would never have begun. Then, the Evangelicals would not have flocked to the Republican Party. Then. Then. Then. Then. Many other things would not have happened in America.

Would we be any worse off in America today if Schaeffer and Falwell had not met in 1978?

I believe the answer is a loud “NO!”

In fact, I believe we might be better off today if these two men would never have met.

Why?

Both Schaeffer and Falwell were dynamic, persuasive, intelligent believers. So, when they arrived at American Christianity’s fork in the road in the late 1970s, they set the standard for Christian leaders by choosing the much-traveled path of preaching and lecturing, which allowed them to reason with hundreds of thousands of people. Their examples spawned tens of thousands of pastors and preachers to tread on the same roads.

Almost overnight, eighteen state Moral Majority Chapters were organized with grassroots volunteers, supporting the Republican party. This probably helped elect President Ronald Reagan in 1980, but it also encamped most Evangelicals inside the GOP as lemmings following supposed Christian/conservative candidates.

The sad fact is that Christianity entered into spiritual warfare against abortion and anti-Christ attitudes by aligning itself with a political party and placing its hope in politicians. Yipes! We’re using the world’s weapons to try and defeat Satan on his battlefield and with his rulebook. It will never result in victories for Christ and His followers!

Yet, if anyone mentions that we’re heading the wrong way, tens of millions of believers will rise up and scream, “It worked for us in 1980. We just need another Ronald Reagan to change America!”

It would have been better to have suffered defeat in 1980. Then, we could have licked our wounds, sought the Lord, and learned how to fight the good fight. And anyway, almost every accomplishment of President Ronald Reagan has long since been lost…except for the political template, which we Christians drag out every four years to supposedly “take back America.”

I agree with Francis Schaeffer’s son Frank’s quote, but I believe Evangelical Christianity never had its wheels on the right track even at the beginning of the journey in 1979. However, we’re still trying to beat the rock with Moses’ worn-out staff, hoping to get water from it.

Will America survive?

(Continued in Part 3)

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April 16, 2016 · 1:50 pm

Will America Survive? (Part 1)

“We helped make a movement that went totally off the rails and, of course, politically is still going now.” (Frank Schaeffer, son of Francis Schaeffer)

What if Francis Schaeffer had never met with Rev. Jerry Falwell in 1978?

Francis Schaeffer was a Christian theologian, pastor, author, political activist, founder of L’Abri community in Switzerland, noted intellectual, and profound speaker. He emerged as a powerful critic of American Evangelical churches and their many  compromises with the world, especially abortion. He lectured, wrote books, and filmed a series of documentaries.

Schaeffer then crisscrossed America in the early 1970’s with his wife Edith and son Frank, pointing out our nation’s sins. His messages caught the attention of powerful Christian politicians: Congressman Jack Kemp, Senator Bob Dole, President Jerry Ford, Ronald Reagan, and the Bush family. These politicians believed the Republican Party needed to back Schaeffer’s ideas.

Also, during the 1970’s, Rev. Jerry Falwell, pastor and founder of Thomas Road Baptist Church and Liberty University, realized America was becoming more and more secular, moving away from its Christian roots. Although he had believed and preached for years that Christians should not be overly involved in politics, he noticed the success of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement in changing America through the political process. He then traveled across the nation in his “I Love America” tour in 1976 and preached against Equal Rights Amendment, lack of prayer in schools, and abortion.

Schaeffer happened to see Falwell on a televised crusade in 1978. Schaeffer instantly recognized Falwell’s potential for building a broad fundamentalist-evangelical alliance. The two met and Schaeffer convinced Falwell that Christians needed to change America through political involvement.

From this meeting, Falwell went on to found the Moral Majority with Paul Weyrich, a Republican political activist. President Ronald Reagan stated that the Moral Majority helped put him in the White House in 1980.

The Moral Majority was eventually disbanded in 1989. Jerry Falwell stated: “Our goal has been achieved…The religious right is solidly in place and … religious conservatives in America are now in for the duration.”

I agree with Francis Schaeffer’s son Frank’s above quote, but for totally different reasons. More on that later.

But once again, what if Francis Schaeffer had never met with Rev. Jerry Falwell in 1978?

(Continued in Part 2)

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April 14, 2016 · 10:38 am

Thursday’s Prayers for America (3/14/2016)

Let’s face it: we Americans have no excuses for not seeing President Obama’s anti-Israel bias before voting for him in 2008. Isn’t it too much to believe Obama sat for twenty years in Trinity United Church of Christ without ever listening to Pastor Jeremiah Wright’s anti-Semitic rants? Or that he studied under Professor Edward Said without hearing about Said’s hatred for Israel? Or what about his close relationship with anti-Semitic Rashid Khalidi? Or Obama’s Muslim stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, and Obama’s childhood upbringing in Indonesia as a Muslim student? Are these just freak aberrations in President Obama’s life?

President Obama explained all of these hiccups in his life by confirming his Christian beliefs, mouthing his support for Israel, denouncing Reverend Wright’s anti-Semitic remarks, and glossing over his other anti-Semitic relationships and Muslim past. The media gave him a pass on the issue while America listened to his “hope and change” prosperity message.

The 2008 election resulted in Presidential Obama winning 26% of white evangelical’s votes, 94% of black Christian votes, and 78% of the Jewish vote.

As most of us know, politicians are notorious for bobbing and weaving their way through campaigns while trying to leave escape hatches for them to jump through when voters remind them of their promises afterward. How did President Obama back up his promised support for Israel?

 

On January 21, 2009, his first day in office, President Obama summoned his national-security team to the Oval Office and laid out a tough new policy toward Israel. The policy demanded Israel make whatever accommodations were needed to settle Palestinian grievances, even if it meant returning to pre-1967 borders.

The President then traveled to the Middle East in April and June 2009, meeting with Arab leaders. In his speeches he challenged the legitimacy of Jewish settlements on Palestinian-claimed land and cited the Holocaust as the justification for Israel’s existence, overlooking any historical Jewish ties to the land. (This happens to be the Arab narrative for Israel’s existence.)

A month later, President Obama invited the heads of fourteen Jewish organizations to meet with him at the White House. During the meeting one Jewish leader said, “If you want Israel to take risks for peace, the best way is to make Israel feel that its staunch friend America is behind it.”

“You are absolutely wrong,” President Obama reportedly replied. “For the past eight years [under the Bush administration], Israel had a friend in the United States and it didn’t make peace.”

This dismal beginning only foretold the icy relationships between President Obama and Israel over the last seven years. Open snubs of Prime Minister Netanyahu. The Pentagon’s declassifying documents revealing Israel’s nuclear program. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the Iran Nuclear Deal, which turns out to only be a commitment between President Obama’s administration and Iran, not a nuclear treaty after all. President Obama used taxpayer money, his own political operatives, and a nonprofit front group to interfere in the 2015 Israeli election, specifically with the intent of toppling Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister. And so forth.

President Barack Obama and America have poked God in His eye by the way we have treated Israel over the last seven years. Shouldn’t we expect God to raise His fist to crush us?

(Excerpt from Common Sense 2016 by Larry Nevenhoven, ©2016, Amazon eBook…which will be offered free of charge April 22 – April 25)

This message came about because of a twenty-minute video which can be seen here.

My prayer today:

Lord, have mercy on America for we have rebelled and turned aside from Your commandments about blessing and honoring Israel. So now, the solemn curses written in the Law of Moses have partially fallen upon our nation and we fear the rest will soon fall. You are right in doing these things for we did not obey You. In view of all Your faithful mercies, please turn Your furious anger away from us or all the nations of the world will mock us because of our sins. We make this plea, not because we deserve Your help, but because of Your great mercy. (Based on prayer in Common Sense 2016, with is based on Daniel 9:4-19)

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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April 13, 2016 · 9:58 am

My Church is a Bunch of Nice Losers! (Part 1)

 

The female pastor walked to the pulpit and began the eulogy for my friend. I have no idea what she said because the Lord chose this moment to speak to me once more.

I felt Him whisper to my heart: “My church is a bunch of nice losers. They lay their hands on the sick and pray for them, but when they die, they aren’t mad at all. They don’t check themselves out to see what happened or what they may have done wrong with their prayers and actions. They accept defeats and don’t think anymore about them.

“Now, Major League baseball teams are all filled with good players. Each player has to be one of the best in the world to make it to the Major Leagues. Losing teams have good players on their rosters, too. But after a while, losing teams’ players don’t mind losing because after all, they still receive their Major League paychecks and bonuses.

“But winning Major League baseball teams are different. They hate losing and will do anything and whatever it takes to win. They hate losing.

“I want My church to hate losing!”

This time the grief, which hit me, measured a ten on the Richter Scale. It was so bad my sister leaned over toward me.

“Don’t you think you should go outside and get a hold of yourself,” she whispered.

If I had attempted to move, I would have fallen on the floor. Everything would have erupted out of me, making a bad situation much worse than it was. The grief lifted after a few minutes, but I sat on pins and needles for the rest of the funeral service.

(Excerpt from The Hunt for Larry Who by Larry Nevenhoven, ©2014, Amazon eBook)

How do we change our mindsets so that we can walk in love and hate losing at the same time?

(Continued in Part 2)

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April 7, 2016 · 11:00 am

Thursday’s Prayers for America (4/7/2016)

Spiritual gifts anyone?

Maybe your first thought is, “Yuck! Who wants this Pentecostal/Charismatic phoney 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. She is three years old and dressed up in a cute Bambi t-shirt and jeans outfit. Everyone looks at her and smiles. She’s a doll and you adore her, and would do anything for her.

But because you were in a hurry when you left home, you did not use the restroom, and you need to go – now. You tell your wife.  She rolls her eyes and says, “Oh honey, use the one in Macy’s Department Store. We’ll wait here for you by the kids play area.”

You rush to the restroom, do your duty, wash your hands and leave. As you walk back from 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 your body.

Brushing yourself off, you run to where you wife and daughter were waiting. When you get there, you see bodies all over the floor. Somehow, you find your wife and daughter. They’re dead with blood all over them.

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 (1 Corinthians 12: 9-10). 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?

(Excerpt from Islamic Christians versus Radical Christians: New Game. New Rules, which can be read in its entirety here.)

My prayer today:

Lord, I ask for a fresh move of the Holy Spirit to stir our hearts so that American believers pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that we prophesy. (Based on 1 Corinthians 14:1)

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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March 31, 2016 · 8:21 am

Thursday’s Prayers for America (3/31/2016)

The 2016 Presidential race has brought one ugly behavior to the surface in us Americans: anger.

William DeFoore, an anger-management writer, described anger as a pressure cooker: we can only apply pressure against our anger for a certain amount of time until it explodes. (Wikipedia)

Sadly, I believe DeFoore is correct and that America has a pressure cooker atmosphere right now, just waiting to explode.

My prayer today:

Lord, help us American believers to put away all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, malice, and instead, help us to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave us. (Based on Ephesians 4:31-32)

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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