“I will never quit…If knocked down, I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates…I am never out of the fight.” (Philosophy of the U.S. Navy SEALs)
My prayer today:
Lord, help us American Christians to fight the good fight of faith during 2019, knowing that You will give us the victory in Christ Jesus.
What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you today?
Join with me on Thursdays to fast and pray for America.
Filed under America, Christianity, Church, Fasting, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare
Much later, another panic attack awakened me. Someone moved in my cell. What did he want?
“De Luz, stand up. Let’s go.”
Rolling over, I saw the same two guards again. The big one had his hand on his gun and the smaller one held leg irons and handcuffs in his hands.
I yawned and stood up.
“What now?”
“Shut up.”
I held my hands out as he put the handcuffs on. He stooped down and tightened the leg irons around my ankles.
“Okay, let’s go.”
“Where?” I said.
“Down the hallway toward the visitors’ room. And shut up. No talking.”
One of the gang-bangers woke up as we walked past his cell.
“Hey man, where you taking him at 1 a.m. in the morning?”
The big guard looked at him, his eyes seething.
“Shut up, if you don’t want to end up in lockdown.”
The gang-banger mumbled something and then pulled the blanket back over his head.
Just before we reached the visitors’ room, the big guard grabbed my shoulder.
“Stop here.”
He opened a door with a key and held it open for me. I duck-walked past him into an interrogation room with a white iron table bolted to the floor. There were two metal chairs, one on each side of the table. Three walls were painted pale green and the fourth wall had a large one-way mirror. I supposed people watched me through the mirror.
“Sit down.”
As I did, Mayor Streyer walked into the room, carrying two cups of coffee. He wore jeans, a blue chambray work shirt, and a pair of Italian loafers. His famous million-dollar smile perched itself under his nose. He sat down opposite me.
“Remove his handcuffs, Jeremiah’s not going anywhere. Then, leave us alone. I’ll call you when we’re done. Thanks,” he said in rapid fire staccato.
The small guard took the handcuffs off. The two left.
The mayor handed me a cup.
“Starbucks,” he whispered. “Your favorite, right?”
I smiled and sipped some coffee. It tasted great.
“Wondering why you’re here?”
I nodded, but did not say a word.
“My wife, Dina, is worried sick by your prophecies. She can’t sleep. Can’t eat. Wants our two children to stay in Phoenix with her parents until this blows over,” he said, sipping coffee.
“Tonight, she begged me to talk with you,” he went on. “She hopes I can persuade you to ask God not to destroy San Francisco.”
I looked at him as if he came from another planet.
“Let me get this straight, okay?” I said in a measured tone. “She believes I’m a prophet?”
The question embarrassed him. His eyes dropped to his coffee cup.
“Yeah,” he whispered under his breath.
“What about you?”
He shrugged and showed off his million-dollar smile.
“I’m a politician with a capital P. If a pollster can prove believing you’re a prophet will add fifty thousand votes to my tally, then I’ll believe you’re a prophet. But I don’t see that happening. You’ve alienated the gay community, which is twenty-five percent of the voters in San Francisco. That’s a tough nut to crack.”
“What about people? Don’t you care what happens to them?”
His blue eyes opened wide.
“Well, it’s obvious I care about Dina and my two children. I’m here, aren’t I?” he said, leaning back in his chair. “But the people, whether they’re gays, feminists, peaceniks, liberals, straights, conservatives, fall into specific voting blocks. I just need the blocks to add up to fifty-one percent at the end of every battle on my side of the ledger. Sounds easy, right? Let me tell you, it’s not. You have to kiss butts and gargle Lewis Lye to make it work.”
I stared at him and shook my head.
“Shocked at my candor?” he said with a grin. “Don’t be. I’m just laying my cards on the table. If you think church leaders are any different, you’re wrong. They’re just as pragmatic as politicians and maybe even worse!”
A strange look flashed across his eyes. I got the sense there was a lot under the surface he was not saying about church leaders.
“The Freedom Riders had a favorite Gandhi quote, describing politicians and leaders like you,” I said. “There goes my people, I must run and catch up with them, for I am their leader.”
“Great quote. It sums up the art of politics in one sentence.”
We both took a break and drank coffee.
He leaned forward with his eyes staring full bore into mine.
“So what’s your answer?”
“San Francisco must repent.”
He slapped the table and stood up.
“That’s probably not happening, but who knows? Maybe I’m wrong. If I am, I’ll make a quick change and run to the front of the group. After all,” he said with eyebrows raised, “I’m their leader.”
He pivoted around and left the room.
Two minutes later, the two guards escorted me back to the cell.
The mayor’s words aggravated me when I was alone again. I paced back and forth from one wall to another. My spirit was stirred up. I was upset. Tears and sweat rolled down my cheeks. Politicians care about one thing: power. I thought. How can politicians be our answers?…What hope do we have?
(Excerpt from Jonah by Larry Nevenhoven, © 2012, Amazon eBook)
(Continued in Part 2)
Filed under America, Calamities, California, Christianity, Church, Climate Change, Global Warming, Kingdom of God, Politics, spiritual warfare
Have you ever wondered what was Paul’s thorn in the flesh?
There have been many suggestions, but my best guess is that it was the Jews, who constantly hunted him down and tried to kill him. The Jews certainly fit the description of a messenger of Satan who buffeted or treated him with violence.
Yet, look what the Apostle Paul wrote a year or so after he wrote his letter to the Corinthians:
For my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters, I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them. (Romans 9:3)
Even though the Jews may have been Paul’s thorn in the flesh, he loved them, felt they were his missionary field and was willing to die for them.
So, I believe we Christians need to look with Paul’s eyes at radical Democrats, leftists, socialists and others, who are trying to destroy the Christian heritage of our nation. We need to view them as our missionary field and be willing to die for them.
That is — if we want to love like Paul did, which if you think about it, is how much Jesus loved each of us when He took our places on the cross.
Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas. I am taking the holiday season off. See you in January.
Filed under America, Christianity, Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Intercession, Prayer, spiritual warfare
During the American Civil War, there were denominational church splits for Methodists, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Lutherans, Baptists and others. Today’s Southern Baptists are carryovers from the Baptist church splits of that era.
These denominational splits were the results of slavery. The northern parts of the denominations were against slavery while the southern ones were deeply embedded in the slave-owning society.
The main holdouts were the Quakers.
Although many American Quakers once owned slaves, they realized that slavery was a sin by the early 1800s and refused to have anything to do with it again. Not only were the Quakers anti-slavery, but they were also pacifists. These attitudes caused the Southern Quakers heavy persecution during the Civil War. Their land was stolen, their livestock taken, many were thrown in jail, and on and on, their troubles continued.
In the midst of the Quakers’ darkest days of persecution, Southerners joined the denomination and became known as War Quakers. Think about this for a moment: people joined the Quakers so they could share in the persecution. Only God could make something like that happen!
It’s my belief that the Lord used the Quakers as lights to the Southerners during the Civil War. Like the church of Smyrna in the Book of Revelation, the Quakers were tested for their beliefs, but they had spiritual ears to hear what the Spirit was saying to their churches at that time in American history.
Could this happen in today’s upcoming American civil war? Could God raise up groups that would go against the grain on one side or the other?
If we view the political landscape right now, a majority of Evangelical Christians lean toward the Republican Party. But most black American Christians have joined the remaining Evangelical Christians in the Democratic Party.
Depending on how the civil war might break out, we could easily end up having Christians fighting Christians, with each feeling they are obeying God at the same time.
It’s my belief the Lord is raising up believers right now who are waiting for the Lord to send them to LA, San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York and other cities to raise up a standard for God in these places. Their loyalties will not be to political parties, denominations or sides in the civil war, but to the King of kings.
These groups of believers will suffer extreme persecution, but they will stand firm and force many to make a choice between God’s ways and man’s ways. But even so, this is according to scripture.
All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:8
(Conclusion…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)
Filed under America, Christianity, Church, Civil War, Gifts of the Spirit, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare
Everyone needs to make up his or her own mind about today’s America. It’s either the worst of times or the best of times for us Christians. Our decisions on this question will determine our attitudes and actions in the days ahead.
For me, Marine Lt. General Chesty Puller’s statement during the bloody battle of Peleliu summarizes my attitude:
“All right, they’re on our left, they’re on our right, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us…they can’t get away this time.”
My prayer today:
Lord, open the eyes of Christians to show them that they have been chosen by You for such a time as this to win great victories for Your kingdom. (Based on Esther 4:14)
What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you today?
Join with me on Thursdays to fast and pray for America.
Filed under America, Christians, Church, Fasting, Gifts of the Spirit, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare
But as Jesus came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, He began to weep. “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not accept your opportunity for salvation.” (Luke 19:41-44 NLT)
Jesus spoke the above prophecy on Palm Sunday, just days before He was crucified. His prophetic words were fulfilled nearly forty years later when General Titus and his Roman army destroyed the Temple and burned Jerusalem in 70 AD. Over a million Jews –men, women and children – were slaughtered by the Romans.
Now, the Jews heard Jesus’ words on that Palm Sunday and most certainly talked about them, but they hung onto their traditions and just wanted to preserve their way of life.
The Christians on the other hand, remembered Jesus’ prophecy so that when a believer prophesied around 67 AD about the soon coming devastation of Jerusalem, they heeded his words. They fled Jerusalem and relocated to Pella and other TransJordan cities, sixty miles away.
Even though the believer’s prophecy was specifically spoken to Christians, believers certainly would have explained to their neighbors why they were leaving. They would have mentioned both prophecies, attempting to convince their Jewish neighbors to flee, too. The neighbors would have repeated the conversations to others. On and on it would have continued until the whole city knew the reason for the Christian exodus: the soon coming destruction of Jerusalem.
Yet, the Jews ignored the Christians warnings and were slaughtered by the Romans.
Could God have stopped this slaughter from happening?
God’s foreknowledge doesn’t always mean He can change the hearts of people fast enough to prevent calamities because He will not tamper with people’s free will. God is not a cruel dictator but a King who woos us with His love. It’s always a heart to heart deal between God and us.
If you look at the above prophecy by Jesus, you will notice that Jesus said, “But now, it is too late…”
Our Father loves His creation and usually gives us warnings far in advance to prepare us for calamities. Then, He will follow up with later warnings.
So, what should we do about my prophetic words about the inevitability of a civil war breaking out in America?
(Continued in Part 9…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)
Filed under America, Christians, Church, Civil War, Gifts of the Spirit, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare
The four Gospels contain eighty-nine chapters, which reveal the heart and power of Jesus during His first coming on earth. But there are more than one hundred and fifty chapters in the Bible which are focused – at least 51% – on Jesus’ second coming.
Yet, most Christians have no clue about the End-times because they haven’t studied or thought about it much — if at all. This seems ridiculous, especially when you consider there is only one book of the Bible which promises readers a blessing just for reading it: the Book of Revelation. This book details the apocalyptic revelation given to the Apostle John for the End-times.
What’s the problem?
The problem is that the Book of Revelation contains – according to Chuck Missler – four hundred and four chapters with over eight hundred references to the Old Testament. That’s almost two references per chapter.
These Old Testament references require us to read and have an understanding of the Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Malachi and other books.
And we need to have insight into the meanings of the many Jewish idioms used throughout the New Testament. For instance:
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Mark 13:32)
If we read the above verse with our Gentile minds, we assume that no one knows ahead of time when Jesus will return for His bride. But the Apostle Paul commended the Thessalonians for having an understanding of the times and seasons. They understood because they were sons of light and not of darkness. They knew the idiom referred to the Feast of Trumpets which occurs on the first or second day of Tishrei, which is during our months of either September or October.
You see, the Feast of Trumpets or Rosh Hashanah is celebrated on the first day of Tishrei in Israel, but is celebrated as a two-day feast on the first and second days of Tishrei by Jews outside of Israel. The reasoning behind the two-day celebration is that this is a holy day and they want to make sure that there is a new moon.
Thus, these Jews do not know the exact day or hour, but they know it’s in the Fall and what feast will be celebrated at the time.
So, if we want to have an understanding of the End-times, we’re going to have to be like little children and learn about our Hebrew roots. We must remember that we Gentiles are grafted into a Jewish olive tree…and not the other way around.
Wait a second! What does this have to do with a possible civil war in America?
(Continued in Part 8…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)
Filed under America, Christianity, Church, Civil War, Kingdom of God, Prophecy, spiritual warfare
Almost thirty years ago, I worked as a maintenance man at a motel in Ames, Iowa, near the campus of Iowa State University. The motel hired track athletes to help them set up for banquets in its ballrooms. Many of those track athletes were runners from Africa. One of them was from Kenya, who I spoke to in casual conversations from time to time.
One day, while I was talking to him, I had a quick vision. In it, I saw his parents holding hands and praying for him. They prayed, “Lord, we put our son into Your hands and ask You to do whatever You have to do so he will walk in his calling as a preacher here in Kenya.”
I looked at the young man. “You’re a Christian, right?” I asked.
“Yes,” he replied with a smile, “how’d you know?”
“I just had a quick vision of your parents praying for you to walk in your calling in Kenya.”
He laughed. “That’s not happening!” he proclaimed. “I am the number-three ranked triple jumper in the world and ranked in the top five or six in the four-hundred meter dash. I will earn $75,000 this summer running in events in Europe and next year after graduation with my degree in international finance, I’ll earn hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you —”
“Don’t worry! I’ll be okay.”
A couple of months later on a cold December morning, I walked into the motel’s kitchen to begin my work day. There sitting on a chair with his pant-leg rolled up and blood dripping from his knee was my Kenyan friend.
“What happened?” I asked, rushing to him.
“I was late. So, I ran across the parking lot and slipped on some ice. My knee is ruined,” he said with tears rolling down his cheek.
“Ah, you’ll be okay,” I said.
“No, world-class runners never come back from knee injuries like this. The half-second they lose puts them in the losers’ bracket forever. I’m done.”
I stayed with him until the ambulance arrived.
If you’re thinking God wouldn’t do something like this to bring a man into His kingdom purposes, you need to reread the book of Jonah. God is a loving Father who will do whatever He has to do to fulfill His purposes, especially in answer to prayers.
Okay, maybe God will do something like this in answer to the prayers of parents for their son, but will the Father do this in answer to prayers for a region or state or nation?
(Continued in Part 7…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)
Filed under America, Christianity, Church, Civil War, End-Times, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare
If a modern-day Jonah walked through our cities, proclaiming, “Yet forty days and this city will be no more,” would anyone pay attention to him? Would anyone seek the Lord? Would anyone repent?
My prayer today:
Lord, open up the ears of American believers to hear what the Spirit is saying to our nation. (Based on Revelation 2:7)
What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you today?
Join with me on Thursdays to fast and pray for America.
Filed under America, Christianity, Church, Fasting, Gifts of the Spirit, Judgment, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare
Most Christians fall into the Pre-Tribulation or Post-Tribulation theological camps for the end-times. Just so you know: there are other end-times viewpoints, such as the Amillennial and Preterist point of views, but both of these require believers to read the Book of Revelation, Daniel and Matthew 24 through fogged-up glasses.
The Pre-Tribulation viewpoint is held by approximately 90% of American believers. This viewpoint believes the Body of Christ will be raptured and taken to heaven at any time before the Seven Years of the Great Tribulation (Daniel 7 and Revelation 13) takes place. Then, the church will return with Jesus at His second coming to set up His thousand-year reign on earth.
The Post-Tribulation viewpoint believes the Body of Christ will go through a major part of the Great Tribulation, will be raptured and taken up to heaven at the Seventh Trumpet Judgment, just before the disastrous Seven Bowl Judgments. The Post-Tribs agree with the Pre-Tribs on the church returning with Jesus at His second coming. About 90% of the Chinese, North Korean and Asian believers believe in the Post-Tribulation viewpoint.
But there are a some scriptures most Pre-Trib and Post-Trib believers seldom think about —
And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:5-8)
The “beginning of sorrows” will be one tough time-period for us believers to endure. We will be arrested, persecuted and killed. The whole world will hate us, just because we follow Jesus. Many believers will turn away from following the Lord, betraying and hating other believers. There will be many false prophets who will deceive many believers. Sin will be rampant and everywhere, with the love of many believers growing cold.
Now, maybe, we have our fingers crossed, hoping we will be raptured into heaven before these terrible things happen.
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14)
Who preaches the gospel? Believers do.
Therefore, it makes no difference whether Jesus returns for us before the Great Tribulation takes place or near the end of it because we have to remain on earth and endure the “beginning of sorrows,” so we can preach the gospel to all nations (or people groups).
(Continued in Part 6…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)
Filed under America, Christianity, Church, Civil War, End-Times, Kingdom of God, Prophecy, spiritual warfare
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