Tag Archives: Hebraic Roots

November 13, 2018 · 11:16 am

Prayers for the American Church (11/13/2018)

Photograph of Christ Anthglican Church, Stellarton, NS. Taken the morning of October 28, 2005

How would you like to fight a war with modern weapons, but no ammunition? Or vice versa?

This is pretty much how the American church is heading into the End-times to fight spiritual battles. The Gentile church is missing its Jewish counterparts and the Messianic church is missing its Gentile counterparts.

Jesus created in Himself one new man from Jew and Gentile believers. This one new man is supposed to be one body reconciled by the cross to God. Then this unified body is supposed to make known the manifold wisdom of God to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.

My prayer today:

Lord, we ask You to fulfill Your words that You would build Your church and the gates of Hell would not prevail against it. (Based on Matthew 16:18)

Join me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for the American church.

2 Comments

Filed under America, Christianity, Church, Fasting, Hebraic roots, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as America, Church, Hebraic Roots, Prophecy, Spiritual warfare

July 12, 2016 · 8:20 am

Tuesday’s Prayers for One New Man (7/12/2016)

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

Considering the racial unrest, targeting of policeman by activists, terrorist problems, Presidential election, illegal immigration, and economic problems in America, wouldn’t you think the Lord would place His plans for creating one new man on the back burner?

No! No! No!

You see, we’re searching for peace on earth and this is an integral part of His plan for achieving that goal. We must follow His lead now; otherwise we will continue marching toward chaos in our nation.

My prayer today:

Lord, help us to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches now so we will stand in faith and prayer, believing that You are able to bring forth the one new man in this season. (Based on Revelation 2:7 and Ephesians 2:15)

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

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

Tuesday’s Prayers for One New Man (5/31/2016)

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

“But to truly understand spiritual warfare, you need to remember: Satan was an archangel who understands the government of God. When he rebelled, he became the father of lies and there’s no truth in him. Everything Satan attempts to do is a lying counterfeit of what God does and how God governs.”

He glanced at me, making sure I was on the same page with him.

“Satan’s army wears protective armor just like Christians do, but the demonic armor is the exact opposite of God’s armor. Their loins are girded with lies; their breastplates are unrighteousness; their feet are shod with chaos; they have shields of fear; they wear helmets of eternal doom; and their swords are the lying words of Satan. But there is one important similarity common to both God’s army and Satan’s forces. Can you guess what it is?”

I shook my head.

“Unity,” he said. “Both armies’ success depends on unity. God’s army is unified through faith in God, love of God, and love of the brethren. Satan’s forces are unified in their hatred of God and all Christians – and – their fear of God, Satan, each other, and bold believers.”

(An excerpt from my novel, Jonah by Larry Nevenhoven, ©2012, Amazon eBook)

As long as the Body of Christ continues to be divided into Jewish and Gentile branches, the Church will continue to be defeated by Satan and his demonic army here in America.

My prayer today:

Lord, we American believers admit that apart from You, we can do nothing. So, we need You to move by Your power to graft the two branches of Jews and Gentiles into the one new man, bringing us believers into unity and peace for today’s spiritual battles. (Based on John 15:5, Romans 11:23, and Ephesians 2:15)

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

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

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

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.

2 Comments

Filed under Christianity, Church, Fasting, Gifts of the Spirit, Hebraic roots, Kingdom of God, One new man, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as America, Christianity, Church, Fasting, Gifts of the Spirit, Hebraic Roots, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, Spiritual warfare

May 11, 2016 · 10:07 am

The Search for One New Man (Conclusion)

http://olivetjournal.com

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.)

1 Comment

Filed under America, Christianity, Church, Fasting, Gifts of the Spirit, Hebraic roots, Intercession, Kingdom of God, One new man, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as America, Christianity, Church, Fasting, Gifts of the Spirit, Hebraic Roots, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, Spiritual warfare

May 6, 2016 · 10:55 am

The Search for One New Man (Part 5)

http://olivetjournal.com

In Ephesians 2:19, Paul continues speaking to the Gentile believers:

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”

The word fellow citizen means to be in union with or together with by resemblance, companionship, or association. When someone becomes a citizen of a nation, they are required to learn the laws, customs, history, and language of that nation. A person becoming a citizen must also pledge loyalty, faithfulness, and commitment to that nation.

We need to remember that it says in Romans 11:17, that the Gentiles were grafted in among the nation of Israel, and the Jewish people. When you graft something, you join or fasten it in such a way as to bring about a close union.

This is what Ruth did as she attached herself to Naomi, a type and shadow of the Gentile becoming a fellow citizen with Israel and the Jewish people. The Gentile believers (Christians) should be involved with the Jewish people, both Messianic and non-Messianic; thereby fulfilling scripture.

Unfortunately, this union that Paul spoke about never really developed into the one new man relationship. In Ephesians 2:20, Paul states that these Gentile believers are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus The Messiah being the chief cornerstone.

It is okay to apply this verse for today, that apostles and prophets are the backbone of the Church, but we also must remember that when Paul was writing, the apostles and prophets he was referring to were all Jewish.

The rich biblical inheritance that believers in Messiah have worldwide has been passed down to them by Jewish spiritual parents. In verse 21 it states:

in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

So, the question is – what does this one new man church look like? We have no blueprint, but we have the Holy Spirit, and he can help us to develop it. Since the joining of one new man consists of Jew and Gentile in Messiah, then we must not be afraid to incorporate both, and bring them together to complete the plan of God. Only when we accept this joining will we fulfill God’s purpose.

As Paul states in Eph.1:10:

“as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

(The above is an excerpt from Nikirk Ministries and the full article can be seen here.

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

4 Comments

Filed under Christians, Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Hebraic roots, Kingdom of God, One new man, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as Christianity, Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Hebraic Roots, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, Spiritual warfare

March 16, 2016 · 1:13 pm

The Search for One New Man (Part 2)

http://olivetjournal.com

As a Gentile, my eyes have been opened over the last six months by Hebraic Roots teachings. For instance:

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?” (John 3:1-10)

If you’re a Gentile like me who has been around Evangelicals for a while – in my case thirty years – then you probably skimmed over the above verses without really paying much attention to the words. After all, you already know the punch line: “You must be born again.” Right?

This is one level of understanding scripture, which is from our Gentile or Greek mindset.

Now, the Hebrew mindset looks at Nicodemus and realizes that he is a ruler of the Jews, which means he was a big-time rabbi, Torah teacher, and a member of the Sanhedrin. Nicodemus would have memorized all of Leviticus, much of the Torah (first five books of Old Testament), and understood most of the oral traditions (Talmud) given by the top rabbis for the Old Testament (Tanakh).

But even though we Christians have only understood the expression “born-again Christians” since the 1970’s, Jesus expected Nicodemus to understand the expression two thousand years ago. How was that possible?

The term “born-again” was not first coined by Jesus in His nighttime meeting with Nicodemus. It was already in use and referred to a Gentile’s conversion to Judaism. The Gentile man would have been circumcised and then immersed in a mikvah or water bath. The mikvah was regarded as both a grave and a womb, from which the Gentile was reborn or born again.

So in light of this revelation, we can better understand the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. The Torah teacher was not baffled by the term “born-again,” but instead was really saying, “Hey, Jesus, I’m already a Jew. How can I convert again to Judaism?”

Jesus answered Nicodemus by saying in so many words, “Nicodemus, being Jewish is not enough. You can’t rely on your ethnicity. You must have a change of heart and believe in Me as the Messiah.”

This is a second level of understanding scripture, which is from a Hebrew mindset.

Yet, the one new man that I’m searching for takes the place of both mindsets.

(Continued in Part 3……if you’re interested, the full series to date can be seen here.)

2 Comments

Filed under Christianity, Church, Hebraic roots, Kingdom of God, One new man, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as Christianity, Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Hebraic Roots, Kingdom of God, One new man, Prophecy, Spiritual warfare

February 21, 2016 · 10:46 am

The Search for One New Man (Part 1)

http://olivetjournal.com

I hurried down West Broad Street in my Ford pickup truck, carrying Toyota parts to a mechanic who needed them right away. As I drove along, I had a graphic vision.

Do you remember iron lungs, which polio sufferers used during the 1950’s? They looked like large cylindrical metal tubes and encased polio victims, helping them to breathe via a pressurized airflow system. The bulky machines filled entire hospital wards during the height of the polio epidemics.

In my vision, the American church system was terminally ill. As a last ditch effort to save its life, the whole church system laid in a white iron lung, gasping for its every breath. The long power cord, attached to the rear of the unit, meandered itself through other electrical cords to a unique power source: money. The life support system was plugged into bags and bags of money.

I stared at the strange sight and then a thundering voice interrupted my thoughts.

“Pull the plug!” proclaimed the voice.

Carol and I prayed about my vision that night and felt we needed to leave the traditional church system right away.

Our decision to not attend churches sounds easy now, but at the time, it seemed like we were the only people in the whole nation walking away from churches. A little research on the Internet revealed hundreds of thousands of Americans had done the same thing over the last few years.

Still it was not easy to break our church attending habits. We were used to sitting in pews on Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, Wednesday evenings, and whenever the church doors opened.

A well-meaning pastor once took me aside and gave one of those lectures no one likes to hear.

“Larry, you need stability in your life and for your marriage,” he said, shaking his head at our nomadic life. “No one will ever take your prophetic ministry seriously if you don’t settle down. You need to settle in a city and find a good church to park yourself so others will take you more seriously. Please, seek the Lord on this advice.”

This vision blew any thoughts about obeying his words out of the water.

Here I am, almost sixteen years later, and like the U2 song, I still haven’t found what I’m looking for, but at least, I have a scriptural direction —

By abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace (Ephesians 2:15)

(Continued in Part 2)

4 Comments

Filed under Christianity, Church, Hebraic roots, Kingdom of God, Prophecy

Tagged as Christianity, Church, Hebraic Roots, Kingdom of God, Prophecy

February 19, 2016 · 10:31 am

“Are We There Yet?” (Part 18)

http://www.canstockphoto.com

Have I ordered a kippa, shofar, tallit (prayer shawl), and other Jewish items for the upcoming feasts? No, I’m still a Gentile, learning about the Hebraic roots in Christianity.

Yet one interesting thing did happen this week:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3)

I have read this verse countless times without really seeing it, but three or four days ago, I read it and could not move pass it to the rest of the chapter. After meditating on the verse, I realized that I had no clue how to access our “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”

Shouldn’t we be able to do so if we are in Christ?

I eventually read to the end of the chapter and hit another snag:

And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church,which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:22-23)

The fullness of Him — isn’t this what we should be seeking?

You can see I’m faced with a few unanswered questions.

So, this will be the conclusion of my early journey into our Hebraic Roots because I will soon begin a new series about the one new man: combining the Jews and the Gentiles into one body.

(Conclusion…if you’re interested in this Hebraic Roots series, all of it to date can be seen here.)

4 Comments

Filed under Christianity, Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Hebraic roots, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as Christianity, Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Hebraic Roots, Kingdom of God, Prophecy, Spiritual warfare

February 3, 2016 · 10:03 am

“Are We There Yet?” (Part 17)

http://www.canstockphoto.com

The number one theory for the end-times over the last thirty years has revolved around the “budding of the fig tree.” It is based on:

“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. (Matthew 24:32-33)

The theory goes something like this:

The fig tree is Israel, based on Jeremiah 24 and other scriptures. The time of budding and putting out new leaves happened in 1948 when Israel became a nation once again, after almost two thousand years of nonexistence. Thus, when you see this happen, the second coming of Jesus is so near that the generation of Jews who were born and alive in 1948 will not die until Jesus returns.

A biblical generation is forty years.

So, since Jesus did not return in 1988 or 1998 or 2008, we have to assume this end-time theory is incorrect, right?

What is the most likely the problem?

If you read Matthew 24:1-31, you will see that Jesus was talking about the days leading up to the end-times, about the abomination of desolation, about the great tribulation, and also —

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30)

The above verse refers to Jesus returning to earth, but the important words to understand are – “then all the tribes of the earth will mourn” – which refers to Zechariah 12:10. This is the exact moment when Israel realizes that Jesus Christ is their Messiah and all of them regret having had hardened hearts against Him.

It is this generation that will not pass away until all things take place.

The mistake is that the parable of the fig tree was taken out of context.

(Continued in Part 18…if you’re interested in this Hebraic Roots series, all of it to date can be seen here.)

1 Comment

Filed under Christianity, Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Hebraic roots, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as Christianity, Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Hebraic Roots, Kingdom of God, Prophecy, Spiritual warfare