Tag Archives: Spiritual warfare

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 20, 2016 · 12:41 pm

“Prayer…Oh no! Has it Come Down to That?” (Part 9)

"Stöwer Titanic" by Willy Stöwer.

“Stöwer Titanic” by Willy Stöwer.

How would you like to be able to ask the Father for whatever you need and then receive it approximately 98.6% of the time? Why 98.6%, rather than 100%? Sometimes, the Father has special plans for our situations, which He does not reveal to us ahead of time.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (John 15:16)

The answer to having 98.6% of our prayers answered is for us to bear long-lasting fruit in ourselves. I believe the fruits refer to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, righteousness, truth, and holiness.

Now, every believer has often heard about the different fruits of the Spirit, so why aren’t we walking in them?

“Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. (Mark 4:18-19) 

Jesus taught the Parable of the Sower to a large crowd by the Sea of Galilee. Most of this particular teaching fell on deaf ears, but He did explain it in depth to His disciples.

Jesus told His disciples the seed that was sown was the word. The word was sometimes sown on trampled down paths, which Satan was able to easily steal before it took root. Other times, the word was sown on rocky soil and the roots could not go deep enough into the shallow soil to support fruit.

But then, there was the thorny soil where the light was good, the moisture perfect, and the soil deep. Yet, no fruit was produced because the “cares of this world, the deceitfulness of [earthly] riches, and the desires for other things [on earth] choked the word.” All of the nutrients were being used to grow thorns, and not fruit.

And to be honest, this is where most of us American Christians are stuck: in thorny soil.

For us to reach new heights in our prayer lives, we are going to have double our efforts on trusting the Lord to handle our cares, to turn away from earthly riches, and to reckon ourselves dead to any desire other than pleasing Him.

Can we achieve this?

This is the reason He chose us.

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

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April 19, 2016 · 11:24 am

Tuesday’s Prayers for Prisoners (4/19/20160

Yemen: 26.5 million people (Islam 99.6% and Christianity .2%) Persecution Level: Severe

Poverty-stricken Yemen continues to suffer from an internal conflict that began in 2011. Much of the population lives in fear of violence and lacks access to food and medical care.

Life for Christians:
Persecution for Christian converts is intense, coming from family, community and the government. Several known converts were killed last year. It is illegal to proselytize Muslims, and non-Muslims are deeply discriminated against. There are believed to be a few thousand secret believers in the indigenous church. (Voice of the Martyrs)

The influence of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and IS appears to be growing further; AQAP recently expanded its territorial control in Southern Yemen. Meanwhile, Yemen is facing a dire humanitarian crisis. Eighty percent of the population is in need of some form of humanitarian assistance, and almost half of the population is food insecure, making Yemen’s hunger crisis one of the worst in the world. (Open Doors)

My prayer today:

Lord, out of the few thousand believers in Yemen, raise up laborers for the harvest who believe the Lord can save the nation from the kingdom of darkness whether You use many or just a few. (Based on Luke 10:2 and  1 Samuel 14:6)

Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for prisoners in Asia, according to Hebrews 13:3.

 Why Asia?

1. 4.4 billion people live in Asia.

2.. 85.4% of world’s unevangelized people live in Asia. (Unevangelized means they may have heard the gospel but have no understanding on how to respond.)

3. The world’s three largest non-Christian religions – Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhists – are based in Asia.

4. Of the 37 countries of the world that are less than 10% Christian, 32 are in Asia. Of the 14 countries, that are less than 2% Christian, 12 are in Asia.

5. 600 million people live in abject poverty in the slums of Asia.

6. 85-90% of unreached people live in Asia. (Unreached means that they have never heard the name of Jesus.) (Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation)

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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 15, 2016 · 11:03 am

The Search for One New Man (Part 4)

Sid Roth was raised in a traditional Jewish home. Today he has found his Messiah. He has devoted much of his life to answering the question, “Why have Jews and Gentiles grown apart?” Sid firmly believes that God never intended to start a new religion. It’s not Judaism and Christianity, two streams of God, but the convergence of Jew and Gentile into one stream called the “One New Man.”

In the following interview, Sid studies Scripture and shares his personal view on what he believes is the next move of God that will impact Jew and Gentile alike.

Q: Sid, will you explain the significance of the “One New Man” in Scripture?
A: God wants to “gather together in one all things in [Messiah]” (Ephesians 1:10b). He tells us how He will do this:

“For He Himself is our peace, who has made both [Jew and Gentile] one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation … to create in Himself one new man … in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:14-15,22).

Q: What will happen when the wall between Jew and
Gentile is removed?
A: When the wall between Jew and Gentile is removed, the spiritual temple, God’s dwelling place, will be restored and this One New Man will release resurrection power to the church that Paul calls “life from the dead” (Romans 11:15). I believe this will include creative miracles and physical resurrections.

Q: This doesn’t make the enemy very happy!
A: The devil is trying to stop the explosion of God’s power by stopping the building of God’s dwelling place. If the foundation is destroyed, the temple can’t be built. So, the enemy’s strategy is to stop Jews from becoming “one” with Gentiles.

Q: Are there any other proofs in Scripture of Jews and Gentiles coming together as One New Man?
A: The “tabernacle” prophesied by Amos is a type of the One New Man Glorious Congregation:

“ ‘On that day I will raise up the tabernacle [literally, ‘dynasty,’ or ‘family’] of David [the Jewish people], which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom [Septuagint reads ‘mankind’], and all the Gentiles who are called by My name,’ says the LORD who does this thing” (Amos 9:11-12). 

Q: What made the tabernacle of David so significant?
A: The tabernacle of David was a unique temple. There was no separation between the people and God. There was no “Holy of Holies.” All experienced God’s presence. Daily praise was instituted by David before the Lord (1 Chronicles 16:37). The Levites worshipped God with the songs of David.

Q: Exactly what will happen when the tabernacle of David is restored?
A: God promised that once this tabernacle (family) of David, or the Jewish people, was restored, it would cause a revival among the Gentiles (Amos 9:12). In fact, this was the proof text to convince the Apostles at the Jerusalem Council meeting to evangelize the Gentiles (Acts 15:16-17).

Q: If Gentiles were the missing part of the church at the time of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, who is missing now?
A: After Yeshua died, the veil of the temple was torn in two (Matthew 27:51). Now nothing should separate us from intimacy with God. Yet, the middle wall of separation (veil) between Jews and Gentiles hinders the church from achieving its full destiny in God because the majority of Jewish people are excluded (Ephesians 2:14).

The full interview with Sid Roth can be seen here.

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

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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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