Tag Archives: Church

Prayers for the Church (9/13/2018)

Christ Church Stellarton

A new Pew Research Center Report shows young Christians (35 years old and under) are leaving churches in record numbers. A followup poll reported the young Christians no longer believed the messages were true. The specific explanations included the following:

“Learning about evolution when I went away to college”
“Religion is the opiate of the people”
“Rational thought makes religion go out the window”
“Lack of any sort of scientific or specific evidence of a creator”
“I just realized somewhere along the line that I didn’t really believe it”
“I’m doing a lot more learning, studying and kind of making decisions myself rather than listening to someone else.”

The Apostle Paul went to a city, converted a few people, started a church, stayed a couple of weeks, and then went to another city. He didn’t usually return to the new church for a couple of years. At best, the new church received a letter from him every so often.

And the churches thrived!

Now remember: Paul’s ministry was mainly in the Asian part of the Roman Empire where fifty percent of the people were slaves, ninety percent could not read, and ninety-five percent could not write. So, even if Paul could have left them King James Study Bibles, they were of little value to them.

What did Paul do?

He preached the gospel of the kingdom of God and —

And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.

Most of today’s churches offer musical performances and eloquent speeches, but no demonstrations of God’s power. Hey! This won’t satisfy young people because YouTube has better stuff.

My prayer today:

Lord, help us to contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints in the early churches. Help us to not settle for anything less than seeing Your Spirit moving in power in our churches. (Based on Jude 1:3)

 Join me to fast and pray for the American church.

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The Apostles: Men Condemned to Death (Part 3)

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In 2007, I had a weird dream in which I saw a bunch of five bananas. Four of the bananas in the bunch were rotten and one was perfect. End of dream.

I told Carol about the dream, but even with her help, I had no clue what the dream was about. As with all of my dreams, I wrote it down in a notebook so I could review it sometime in the future.

Afterward, I walked into the kitchen to make myself breakfast. I poured cereal into a bowl and grabbed what looked like a perfect banana. As I peeled it, I was surprised to learn the fruit was rotten. Not one portion of it was fit to eat. I tossed it into the trash can.

Next, I grabbed another banana and began peeling it. Surprise! Surprise! It, too, was rotten. Then, I grabbed a third and a fourth one. Nothing was eatable on the rotten bananas. The trash can looked like a compost bin.

Finally, there was only one banana left in the bowl. I picked it up and checked it over. Just like the others, there were no marks on the peel.  It looked perfect from the outside.

What do I have to lose? I thought.

I peeled it. And in fact, it was perfect in every possible way, not one bruise on it.

As I stood there looking at the banana, the Holy Spirit spoke to me heart: “The first four callings have been restored to the Church and are mostly rotten. The fifth calling is now ready. It will be perfect.”

The Holy Spirit was referring to the five-fold callings –

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers. (Ephesians 4:11)

But even more, I felt the Holy Spirit was especially referring to the end-time apostles when he mentioned the fifth calling’s perfection.

The rottenness of the first four callings – teachers, pastors, evangelists, and prophets – is due mainly to the traditional church system rather than to the personal character traits of the people in these callings.  The traditional church system has shoved these four callings into a box and sculpted each of them by its traditions and hierarchy.

The end-time apostles are not coming to fit into the traditional church system’s mold, but instead, they’re coming with sticks of dynamite to blow it apart.

(Continued in Part 3…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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WWJD With Colin Kaepernick?

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What would Jesus do with Colin Kaepernick?

Probably very little.

You see, Jesus depends on His church to be His working partner on earth. And guess what? We are not called to bash Colin Kaepernick, but instead, we are called to pray for him.

Will praying for Kaepernick work?

It changed me from an agnostic into a believer. It changed you. It changed a man named Saul, who murdered and imprisoned believers, into the Apostle Paul. Who knows what God will do if we pray for Kaepernick?

My prayer for Colin Kaepernick:

Lord, I pray for the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, to give Colin Kaepernick the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of his understanding enlightened; that Colin may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of His glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe. (Based on Ephesians 1:17-19)

As for Nike, I won’t be wearing their stuff anymore because it brings division, which is what we don’t need in American right now.

 

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The Apostles: Men Condemned to Death (Part 2)

praying

What are the Biblical requirements for being a prophet? Or an evangelist? Or a pastor? Or a teacher?

Actually, outside of being called by the Lord, there are no biblical mandates which have to be met for a believer to become any of these callings. None. Zilch. Nada. Zero.

Now, this does not mean that these callings are imparted without some degree of preparation, but that is strictly the Lord’s decision on what the preparation program will be. He’s the Boss and doesn’t confer with men or groups about His preparation plans.

For instance, when the Lord called me to preach, I didn’t rush off to confer with a pastor or  a group. But rather, I just walked in my calling and used the gifts which came with the calling.

And of course, I made mistakes – lots of them. But my mistakes did not negate the calling on my life. So, I repented often, learned about my calling, and kept on walking in it.

Then, when the Lord called me to be a teacher, I followed the same course. I walked in my calling and began teaching. Period.

Okay, all of that is fine and dandy for the callings of prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher, but what about apostles?

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? (1 Corinthians 9: 1)

The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles. (2 Corinthians 12:12)

If you check Christian internet websites, you will notice a glut of people who claim to be apostles. It’s almost as if the calling is as common as pennies. They’re all over the place. So, do we just take a person’s word that he (or she) is an apostle and then submit to him? Take a look at what Jesus said:

I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false. (Revelations 2:2)

Someone’s supposed apostolic title is not enough to prove the validity of his or her calling. The true apostle must also have had a visitation with Jesus and he (or she) must have signs, wonders, and miracles which glorify the Lord.

Anything less than these biblical mandates causes the supposed apostle to fail the test.

And guess what? We believers are the ones who must check the apostles out.

(Continued in Part 3…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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The Apostles: Men Condemned to Death (Part 1)

Praying

 

“He’s dead! He’s dead!” exclaimed the courier from Rome as he walked toward us.

I stopped working and stood up. The other tent makers did the same. “Who’s dead?” I asked.

“Paul’s dead,” said the courier, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “He was beheaded in Rome about a month ago.”

Even though I knew the Apostle Paul’s ministry would eventually have a sad ending, the news stunned me. O Lord, why? I thought.

I turned away from the group, not wanting to talk about the apostle at that moment. It was just too painful. I walked down to the Aegean Sea and sat on a rock, hoping to sort out my emotions and thoughts. There, I looked back over my years with Paul.

The first time that I met Paul, I was not impressed. His stature was puny, only 4 feet 6 inches tall and 120 pounds in weight, and his public speaking skills were  limited when compared to Apollos and the other orators. Yes, he was brilliant and could write, but these were facts that I learned later and did not figure into my first impressions of him.

Yet, there was something about Paul which drew me to him. Maybe, it was his fiery passion for the gospel or his fierce boldness or his love for the church. I can’t put my finger on it, but anyway, I joined up with Paul and traveled along with him as his aide.

On our first journey to Rome, we ended up swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. Somehow, the Roman soldiers did not execute us and we were able to swim ashore to Malta. We eventually arrived in Rome.

Next, I spent two years, waiting for Paul while he was under arrest. When we finally resumed traveling again, everything became a blur of afflictions, hardships, distresses, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, sleeplessness, and hunger.

Then, the fire in Rome changed everything for us Christians, from bad to worse. Believers were blamed for the fire and Paul became a marked man. Nero sent soldiers to hunt him down in Asia.

The stress wore me down. I couldn’t take it any longer.

“Paul, I didn’t join your ministry to be killed by Roman soldiers,” I said on the day of my departure. “I’m going to Thessalonica, start a business, maybe marry a young woman, and start a family. I haven’t really enjoyed life yet.”

Paul was disappointed, but what could he do? I fled on a boat.

It had been almost two years since I last saw Paul and now he was dead. My mind wandered here and there as the blue waves splashed against the rock I sat on.

Did I make the right decision when I left the Apostle Paul? I wondered.  And how will I be remembered by future Christians?

For Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica…(2 Timothy 4: 9)

Demas’ decision has earned him a shameful legacy in the Bible for all to read. But still, before we are too hard on Demas, we should consider how we might have dealt with an apostle like Paul.

(Continued in Part 2)

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Prayers for America (9/6/2018)

Many believers are praying for America to return to its past glory, but I believe those days are gone. We need to learn how to walk in our now and then into our future. Both are uncharted territories, in which we will need our Good Shepherd to lead us each and every day.

My prayer today:

Lord, help American believers to forget about those things which are behind us, and instead to reach forward to those things which are ahead. So we can press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Based on Philippians 3:13-14)

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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What’re Your Plans for 300 Years from Now? (Part 6)

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In the Book of Revelation Chapters 2 and 3, Jesus gives seven promises to believers who overcome, with the greatest promise being:

To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. (Revelation 3:21)

Nancy and Chuck Missler wrote about being overcomers in their powerful book – Kingdom, Power & Glory: The Overcomer’s Handbook —

Okay, so why is learning about being a faithful overcomer so important? Why make such a big deal about it?

It’s important because the Bible teaches us that overcomers are the only ones who will inherit the Millennial Kingdom and possibly rule and reign with Christ. Revelation 21:7: “He that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be My Son.” Overcomers are the ones who will have various levels of responsibility in the coming kingdom.

What we are saying is that all Christians will enter the Millennial Kingdom, be “with” Christ” and have eternal life (John 14:3; John 3:16). But only the faithful overcomers – the ones who have fulfilled the conditions set down by God in His Word – will inherit and possibly rule in that kingdom.

Some of these conditions are found in Romans 8:17 and 2 Timothy 2:12, which say, if we don’t suffer with Him, we will jeopardize our being able to reign with Him. Matthew 24:45-47 says the if we are not faithful, we could endanger our being made “rulers” over His household. And finally, James 2:5 warns that if we don’t love (agapao) Him, we could forfeit our being heirs of His kingdom. In addition to these scriptures, Ephesians 5:1-5 gives us a list of other things that if we do, we will not inherit.

So, scripturally, there’s a huge difference between simply entering the Millennial Kingdom and being a “subject” there (which all believers will do) and actually inheriting that kingdom and being a “sovereign” there (which only the faithful overcomers will do). All born-again believers will enter, but only the triumphant overcoming Christians will rule and reign. The deciding factor is how we live our lives here and now.

CHARLES STANLEY (Baptist pastor, radio preacher, and author of forty-five books) in his book Eternal Security wrote: “Does our behavior matter once we are assured of our salvation? You bet it does. Are there any eternal consequences when a believer sins? Absolutely. Will eternity be the same for those who follow Christ faithfully and those who live for themselves? Not a chance. Our God is a God of justice as well as a God of grace. His offer of grace is continually extended to even the most vile sinner. But His justice moves Him to keep a careful record of those who remain faithful and those who do not. His grace moved Him to sacrifice His only Son to provide a way for our salvation. But His justice causes him to take special note o those believers who are willing to sacrifice for His Son.

(Excerpt from Chapter 1 of Kingdom, Power & Glory.

What we do 300 years from now depends on our decisions now.

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

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Prayers for America (7/5/2018)

 

In today’s politically correct culture, the phrase –“We are offended” – is the wrench which can be tossed into the gears of a company, a political campaign, Christian outreach, or whatever to stop its forward progress. It is the handy “get out of jail free” card for many opposition forces.

But isn’t it interesting how this phrase has appeared on the scene almost out of nowhere to be an effective tool in such a short period of time? It makes me believe that Satan is setting up American believers for a terrible surprise in the days ahead. Because Jesus said —

These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. (John 16:1 KJ)

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.(Matthew 24:9-10 NKJ)

Think about His words, okay?

Believers are not to be offended if we are picked on, persecuted, threatened with death, hated by everyone, or even killed in these last days before His return. This is heavy stuff!

So, let’s not let the “We’re offended” crowd deter us from doing the will of God in our lives. Let’s instead use their words to strengthen our love for Jesus and gird up our loins with truth while moving forward against the kingdom of darkness.

My prayer today:

Lord, help American believers to reckon ourselves dead to sin and to not be afraid of people’s scorn or their insults. (Based on Romans 6:11 and Isaiah 53:7)

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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Praying for Our Children (Part 3)

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“For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” (Luke 7:28 NKJV)

Jesus’ listeners were shocked when he said these words because He rated John the Baptist to be the equal of Moses, Aaron, King David, Elijah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. The Jews revered these older prophets and probably gasped at His words. Then, Jesus went a step further by announcing that born again believers have a greater standing and more benefits before God than all of the Old Testament prophets had during their times on the earth.

Not only that, but we believers are heirs and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Peter stated believers are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and God’s special people.

So, yes, because of all these examples, and scriptures, we believers are a special people to the Father and have the right to seek Him for insight into the plans He has for our children and grandchildren.

But maybe we should wait a second, okay?

Shouldn’t we first ask ourselves what we plan on doing with the insight God may give us for our children?

You see, once we receive the insight into His plans for our children, we have a responsibility to do something with the information. If we’re thinking we will just write the insight down on a piece of paper and lock it in a storage vault, that’s a terrible idea. Doing something like that is similar to the actions of the unprofitable servant who hid his talent rather than investing it like the two faithful servants did before the master returned. And we know how that turned out for the unprofitable servant!

Our responsibility is to take the plans for our children, which we receive by faith from the Lord, and invest them into their lives through prayer, fasting, and proclamations. It will be a battle, but this will advance our children’s lives on earth and throughout eternity.

Also, we must not think our children are too old for us to seek the Lord for His plans for them. Jacob’s children probably ranged between the ages of late 50s to middle 70s when he prophesied to them.

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My wife and I went along with a group to the home of a family with a deathly ill child. The child was around eleven years old and suffered from acute leukemia. She was thin and covered with a blanket. The parents and child were believers, but the parents knew their only hope for the child was a miracle. Everything in medical science had been tried and had failed.

The group’s leaders anointed the child with oil and uttered a prayer of faith. We all agreed along with the prayers.

But I felt the child would die unless we attempted something different. I also felt the gifts of healing and working of miracles were not manifesting themselves in our group that night.

I looked again at her parents. They desperately wanted her to live.

I cried out to the Lord in my mind. “Lord, do something. Do something. Do something.”

I felt like He wanted me to prophesy to the sick girl.

So, walking up to the child, I prophesied about how the girl would serve the Lord when she was twenty years old, next when she was twenty-five years old, and then when she was thirty years old. I prophesied about her marriage and her children and how she would do the will of God for her generation, just like King David did for his, before dying.

When I finished, everyone −except two people −looked at me like I was a moonstruck idiot. The two exceptions were the parents who got it.  They knew for the prophecy to come to pass, the young girl had to live.

I spent some time instructing them how to pray the prophecy into manifestation.

Sometimes, the Lord uses another person to utter His plans for our children.

 Prayer:

“Lord, I ask You to reveal any plans for my children that You wish to share with me. With the information, I will be a faithful servant to pray, fast, and proclaim Your plans before You, putting You in remembrance of them, and trusting You to bring them to pass. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

(The above is an excerpt from Praying for the Frozen Chosen: Our Children by Larry Nevenhoven, © 2016, Amazon eBook)

(Continued in Part 4)

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Prayers for America (6/21/2018)

Jesus was walking with his disciples in Caesarea Philippi, which was twenty-five miles north of Capernaum, Jesus’ hometown during this period. He tossed out a question to the twelve, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

His disciples answered Him by saying, “Elijah, John the Baptist, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.”

Jesus zeroed in on their opinions. “But who do you say I am?”

Without hesitation, Peter said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus called Peter blessed and stated that his revelation came from the Father. Then Jesus said —

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)

Some have taken Jesus’ words to mean the church is either to be built on Peter or upon his revelation. Actually, I believe it is both.

Thirty years later, the apostle Paul wrote:

[The household of God is] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20)

My prayer today:

Lord, raise up churches in America built on the foundation of apostles and prophets with Jesus as the Cornerstone so these churches can withstand the end-times’ onslaught by Satan and his kingdom of darkness. (Based on Matthew 16:18 and Ephesians 2:20)

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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