Cross Focus

An Old Doctor's Spiritual Prescription

2011-08-09T14:25:00.000-04:00

An Old Doctor's Spiritual Prescription

General Paxton :an excerpt from his memiors: Lexington,VA 2011

2011-08-04T16:35:00.000-04:00

The Bravery and Assurance of Stonewall Jackson. Taped at VMI in Lexingto...

2011-08-03T10:13:00.000-04:00

Lazarus Is Dead And I Am Glad by Carter Conlon

2011-07-15T16:33:00.000-04:00

CROSS CHAPEL WILL NEVER PARTICIPATE IN CHRISLAM. 6-26-2011

2011-06-27T12:41:00.000-04:00

THE EVIL MYSTERY OF REINCARNATION / 2007 TV. TC,MI

2011-06-22T10:36:00.000-04:00

Beware Of Dog's by David Wilkerson - Part 3

2011-06-22T10:26:00.000-04:00

2011-06-22T10:21:00.001-04:00

GOD WANTS TO BLESS YOUR LIFE by Len Paxton at GETTYSBURG, PA 2011.

2011-06-15T22:39:00.000-04:00

ENCOURAGEMENT TO THE NATION AND THE CHURCH, GETTYSBURG, PA 2011.

2011-06-09T19:52:00.000-04:00

A LESSON FROM GENERAL PICKETT: by Len Paxton At GETTYSBURG, PA 2011.

2011-06-06T14:47:00.000-04:00

God Defines Sin by Len Paxton at FCF Campmeeting 5-7-2011

2011-05-25T12:40:00.000-04:00

Jesus Will Lead Us To The Next Level by Len Paxton at FCF Campmeeting 5-...

2011-05-18T16:59:00.000-04:00

Correct Views of Life from the thoughts of Robert E Lee by Len Paxton At...

2011-05-16T20:22:00.000-04:00

Thoughts from 1st John 3: 1-2 :: 4-30-2011

2011-05-02T10:14:00.000-04:00

"PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING" by GUY PENROD. Traverse City Benefit Concert 2011

2011-04-27T10:19:00.000-04:00

"EVERY SAINT" by GUY PENROD. Traverse City Benefit Concert 2011

2011-04-24T20:46:00.000-04:00

Join me at my upcoming Crusades........

2011-04-21T00:10:00.002-04:00

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FCF NORTHEASTERN CAMPMEETING 2011

Emphasis is on the preaching of the Cross of Jesus Christ and His finished work and the need for the baptism of the Holy Spirit!

FRIDAY, MAY 6 - 6:30PM

Evangelist Len Paxton

SATURDAY MORNING SEMINAR, MAY 7 - 10:00AM

Pastor Jim Thomas, on the subject of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in other tongues as well as fasting.

SATURDAY NIGHT , MAY 7 - 6:30PM

Evangelist Len Paxton

SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 8

Pastor Jim Thomas, 10:30AM Service

Evangelist Len Paxton, 6:30PM Service

Family Christian Fellowship Church.

3301 Lincoln Way East, Fayetteville, PA 17222.

MAILING ADDRESS:

P.O. Box 43, Fayetteville, PA 17222

Phone: 717-401-0362
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May 9-14 Spring Battlefield Prayer Tour and TV Taping.......

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July 21-26 we will be in Lexington, Virginia.... Location to be announced..
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September 17th and 18th Angie and I will be in St. Joseph Mo. to hold meetings at Cross Road Ministries that Saturday and Sunday. For more information please call Pastor Danny King (816)617-5424 or E-mail him at crossroadministries@earthlink.net .

Expecting Opposition and Persecution.: by Len Paxton

2011-04-20T22:42:00.000-04:00

Expecting Opposition and Persecution.: by Len Paxton

2 Timothy 3:12-13

12 Yes, and all who will live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. (It is because of the “offence of the Cross” [Gal. 5:11].)

13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse (this problem of seduction in the last days is so acute that the word Paul uses here [seducers] occurs no where else in the New Testament; this means that such an effort is unique to this particular time), deceiving, and being deceived. (Truth opens the door to even more Truth, while deception opens the door to even more deception.)

Swaggart, Jimmy: The Expositor’s Study Bible. Baton Rouge, LA : World Evangelism Press, 2005, S. 2110

The health, wealth, prosperity gospel heresy has deceived many people into thinking that the purpose of Christianity is to provide believers with happy, healthy, prosperous,and trouble free lives. If that is your view of Christianity, then your belief system and your Theology will be greatly shaken when suffering and persecution come your way. Because of the lies of the word of faith extremes in today’s Theology, many believers are tempted to doubt God because suffering and persecution is contrary to what they are taught to expect from the Christian life.

Many are becoming offended with Jesus because of being taught wrongly that they could “Write Their Own Ticket With God.” and that they were in for “Their Best Life Now.”…

But my friends, when you truly embrace the message of the Cross, you will be persecuted simply because people who do not wish to deal with their sin cannot tolerate the Word of God or the people of God. Loyalty to Christ and His message of the Cross causes conflict with the enemies of Christ and the Cross. So, contrary to much of modern Theology, if you are planning to make the much needed stand for Truth in these last days, learn to expect opposition and persecution.

Our Salvation began with God. Our Sanctification began with God; and God is more than able to keep us through all our trials, tests, tribulations, and yes, even persecutions… Rather than concerning ourselves with self-preservation, let us confidently place our very lives in the hands of the Lord, knowing that He will care for us and bring us through into His glorious victory…….

1 Peter 4:19

19 Wherefore let them who suffer according to the Will of God (it really doesn’t matter what we have to go through in order to live for God, the end result will be worth it a million times over) commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing (victory is assured if we continue to look to the Cross), as unto a Faithful Creator. (This means God hasn’t created an insufficient Salvation. He has created a Way through the Death of Christ that guarantees victory, if we will only follow that Way.)

Swaggart, Jimmy: The Expositor’s Study Bible. Baton Rouge, LA : World Evangelism Press, 2005, S. 2160

OLD MISSION & MAYFIELD: near TRAVERSE CITY, MI 4-9-2011

2011-04-10T18:35:00.000-04:00

GOOD WORKS BY LEN PAXTON from the blog " Pastor Len and Friends."

2011-04-07T09:19:00.000-04:00

TEACHING ON THE HOLY SPIRIT

2011-04-04T10:26:00.000-04:00

HOW THE ENEMY OPERATES

2011-03-28T00:15:00.000-04:00

Guy Penrod Easter Benefit Concert Traverse City, MI 2011

2011-03-25T08:04:00.000-04:00

Some Nuggets From My Facebook Page

2011-03-21T08:58:00.002-04:00

working on a new series about "How David treated Saul as opposed to How Absalom Moved against David."

The Absalom spirit always tries to draw the hearts of the people from established (by God) leadership by saying "If I were judging over the people, I would do better". This is so sadly evident in churches today.

Working on a new message called "How Well Do You Take Correction?". One of the hardest things for a pastor to deal with is when people do not listen to Godly counsel from the word of God. Many who claim to be teachable show differently when you challenge a direction they are going or a claim they make. This will be a controversial message.

one of the qualifications for the minister in 1 Timothy 3 is to be 'vigilant'. Vigilant in the Greek is 'nephalion' and means "to be calm, dispassionate, and circumspect." "Wise caution" may be included. This tells us that the call on ones life will prevent them from crying, whining, complaining, and getting upset every time someone opposes them. Look to Christ Crucified.......

Pastors, beware of people who come in and right away can see "better ways" that you could run things.. If God has given you a vision; run it strong. Do not cowtow.

The church needs no more superficial "10 step guides" that skims above the surface of thought and satisfaction and victory..... The deep things of God is the message of the Cross and that will promote real change in your life.

I have no interest in a watered down Gospel or a seeker-driven pragmatism of the modern church growth movement......... Just give me the Word, The Blood, and the power of the Holy Spirit... Give me the message of the Cross..... Just give me JESUS...............................

when I was first saved (1981) some of the qualities the Holy Spirit gave birth to were: 1-When you say something; mean it.. 2- when you commit to something; follow through and 3- if you give your word; keep it... Folks, all these years later, the Holy Spirit has not changed... . these are qualities from the word...

The main message of the church is not to be ' We're a nice, pretty place; you'll like us.' Rather the message should be ' This is a Holy place where sin is despised and if you will embrace Jesus Christ and Him Crucified, you will have victory over sin.'

The day will probably start out like any other; business as usual on planet earth. But then, as jagged forks of lightning rip through the eastern sky; a trumpet will sound in the heavens and we will be translated in the twinkling of an eye. Meeting Jesus in the air... Its gonna happen; ready or not......

Cross Chapel 3-6-2011 "The Cross and Unity" clip 1

2011-03-21T08:55:00.001-04:00

Cross Chapel 3-6-2011 "The Cross and Unity" clip 2

2011-03-21T08:55:00.000-04:00

Cross Chapel 3-6-2011 "The Cross and Unity" clip 3

2011-03-21T08:54:00.000-04:00

THE DECEPTION OF VISUALIZATION PT 1.( an old teaching tape by Len Paxton)

2011-02-17T17:04:00.000-05:00

THE DECEPTION OF VISUALIZATION PT 2 ( an old teaching tape by Len Paxton)

2011-02-17T17:03:00.001-05:00

THE DECEPTION OF VISUALIZATION PT 3 (an old teaching tape by Len Paxton)

2011-02-17T17:03:00.000-05:00

GOOD WORKS BY LEN PAXTON from the blog " Pastor Len and Friends."

2011-01-31T09:34:00.000-05:00

Graves of the First Paxtons in America 1690- 1756

2011-01-11T16:09:00.000-05:00

Prayer for America from Antietam

2011-01-11T16:05:00.000-05:00

Excerpts from Cross Chapel: JAN 2 2011 clip 1

2011-01-03T07:52:00.000-05:00

EXCERPT FROM CROSS CHAPEL: DEC 19 2010

2011-01-03T07:51:00.000-05:00

Burnside Bridge and Prayer for Repentance/ Antietam

2010-11-17T21:51:00.000-05:00

WALTONS MOUNTAIN READING FROM ROM 6

2010-10-10T21:02:00.000-04:00

"Don't Draw Back" from Antietam

2010-10-10T17:25:00.000-04:00

"Peace" From Walton's Mountain

2010-10-10T09:57:00.000-04:00

Short prayer clip from Dunker Church at Antietam battlefield

2010-10-10T09:56:00.000-04:00

A reading from Heb. 11 from the Burnside Bridge; Antietam

2010-10-09T12:17:00.000-04:00

Heart Knowledge of the message of the Cross / Antietam

2010-10-09T12:04:00.000-04:00

Teaching Class: 8-15-2010 Excerpt Clip 1 from Cross Chapel

2010-08-30T23:14:00.000-04:00

TEACHING CLASS EXCERPTS FROM CROSS CHAPEL # 2

2010-08-10T09:28:00.000-04:00

Excerpts From teaching Classes At Cross Chapel #1

2010-07-28T10:07:00.000-04:00

BEING RENEWED " IN HIM"

2010-06-02T19:13:00.000-04:00

My first Church: Copemish Church of God, Copemish, Michigan

2010-05-20T16:05:00.000-04:00

A Recent Lesson On Victory

2010-05-20T10:42:00.003-04:00

Standing for the truth of Christ and Him Crucified in our world today can be a lonely and often times solitary position. Recently, I found myself under a severe attack of the enemy as he tried to magnify that in my life. Even though we try to always appear so strong, the truth is we are but flesh and in a moment of fatigue and physical tiredness; I began to feel the emotional attack that was being launched against me. You see, when you minister to others sometimes you get a big target on your back spiritually speaking. Satan is not in sympathy with what we are preaching and he will do anything he can to hinder the message of the Cross in every way possible.

Rev. 12:10-11 from the Expositors Study Bible

10 And I heard a loud voice saying in Heaven (presents the white-robe wearers of Rev. 6:10–11), Now is come Salvation, and Strength, and the Kingdom of our God (presents the triumph of Christ), and the power of His Christ (refers to the fact that Christ will rule this world, not Satan): for the accuser of our Brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. (This implies that either Satan or one of his fallen angels is before the Throne of God, accusing the Brethren constantly [Job, Chpts. 1–2].)

11 And they overcame him by the Blood of the Lamb (the power to overcome and overwhelm the Kingdom of Satan is found exclusively in the Blood of the Sacrifice of the Son of God, and our Faith in that Finished Work [Rom. 6:3–5, 11, 14]), and by the word of their testimony (the “testimony” must pertain to the fact that the Object of our Faith is the Cross, and exclusively the Cross, which then gives the Holy Spirit latitude to work within our lives); and they loved not their lives unto the death. (This refers to the fact that the Believer must not change his testimony regarding the Cross to something else, even if it means death.)

Swaggart, Jimmy: The Expositor's Study Bible. Baton Rouge, LA : World Evangelism Press, 2005, S. 2200

In the above verse of Scripture, the Lord showed me a very important personal lesson that I want to try and relate to you. It is this: We Overcome by the Blood of Jesus (faith in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross) ; The word of our testimony (the message of the cross), and loving not our lives unto the death. I was missing it in the 3rd area. Let me try and briefly explain:

While I am learning new things about the cross everyday and have in no way arrived by any means, I do have a pretty good basic understanding of the message of the cross and that is my total testimony... I believe in the cleansing, saving, keeping, and delivering power of the Precious Blood of Jesus.... But I found myself focusing a little on love of my own life and in this way; while not threatened with physical death, I found myself almost craving an understanding word from others. Now, in and of itself, there is nothing wrong with that and I want to be clear that we should encourage and edify each other. But first and foremost, we must look to Jesus for all that we need, knowing and understanding that He provided everything we need at the cross.

As I minister to thousands on a weekly basis and really daily basis, I allowed my focus to get on my perceived need for an encouraging word from my brethren and when, for whatever reason that did not come, satan was there to hit me with discouragement. This was all stemming from not occupying my position of death to self and from me, very briefly, taking my eyes off Jesus and Him Crucified and trying to see my need for encouragement fulfilled by people instead of my Lord. There is something in all of us that sometimes craves the expressed appreciation of others. Again let me say, that if you are a believer, you should encourage others and go out of your way to do so. BUT, as a Christian we are never to look to man to meet any need that we may have. We must look exclusively to Christ. I spent a couple of days under needless attack because of focusing on my love for my own life in this way.

As soon as I realized the Lord was putting His finger on this in my life, I repented and said, "Lord, my life is yours and I am dead and hidden in you.. Take control of this" Instantly, the oppression lifted and victory was mine in Jesus, because of Calvary. At the Cross, Jesus purchased my wholeness and it is not dependant on the acceptance or rejection of any person or group of people. This is not always easy to learn and to stand on in the face of an attack but God will always give us the Grace to stand if our faith is in the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.

I believe the Lord allowed me to experience this because of the days we are living in. The Message of the Cross is a last days message. It is a message for all time, but today, it is the dividing line between the true and the apostate church, even as it has always been the dividing line. As we stand and proclaim and defend this great truth, we will often find ourselves having to do so in the face of great opposition. Family, friends,loved ones, co-workers,and sadly, even many in the church will oppose us because they oppose the Jesus in us and they oppose the message. We must learn that whatere betide, we must keep our focus and our trust in the Lord at all times. He is our life.. He is our encourager, Jesus is our everything; our all in all.
Galatians 2:20-21 from the Expositors Study Bible

20 I am Crucified with Christ (as the Foundation of all Victory; Paul, here, takes us back to Rom. 6:3–5): nevertheless I live (have new life); yet not I (not by my own strength and ability), but Christ lives in me (by virtue of me dying with Him on the Cross, and being raised with Him in newness of life): and the life which I now live in the flesh (my daily walk before God) I live by the Faith of the Son of God (the Cross is ever the Object of my Faith), Who loved me, and gave Himself for me (which is the only way that I could be saved).

21 I do not frustrate the Grace of God (if we make anything other than the Cross of Christ the Object of our Faith, we frustrate the Grace of God, which means we stop its action, and the Holy Spirit will no longer help us): for if Righteousness come by the Law (any type of Law), then Christ is dead in vain. (If I can successfully live for the Lord by any means other than Faith in Christ and the Cross, then the Death of Christ was a waste.)

Swaggart, Jimmy: The Expositor's Study Bible. Baton Rouge, LA : World Evangelism Press, 2005, S. 2052

Colossians 3:3 from The Expositors Study Bible
3 For you are dead (dead to the old life by virtue of the fact of Christ dying on the Cross as our Substitute and, in effect, us dying with Him [Rom. 6:3–5]), and your life is hid with Christ in God (all made possible by the Cross [Jn. 14: 20]).

Swaggart, Jimmy: The Expositor's Study Bible. Baton Rouge, LA : World Evangelism Press, 2005, S. 2084E

As we look to Christ and Him alone to meet our every need, we can rest assured that He will do so and always in the ways that are the very best for us.....
Victory is mine... Victory is mine... Victory today is mine.... God told satan, get thee behind, Victory today is mine.... ALL BECAUSE OF THE VICTORY OF THE CROSS. THANK YOU JESUS...........................

Golden nuggets of Truth from My FaceBook Page part 5

2010-05-12T10:57:00.001-04:00

Self effort can minister to one's self importance... The Holy Spirit can humble us if our faith is in the finished work of Christ upon the Cross, thereby fixing our motives and giving us a humility of spirit and rest of faith..

I love this passage from James 2 from the Expositors Study Bible from Jimmy Swaggart Ministries;
14 What does it profit, my Brethren, though a man say he has Faith, and have not works? (This presents the fact that proper Faith will always produce proper works.) can Faith save him? (This should have been translated, “is that Faith able to save him... See More...The truth is God will not recognize that type of Faith.)
15 If a Brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in Peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body; what does it profit? (This refers to claimed Faith which blesses no one, simply because it’s not true Faith. True Faith will help the person.)
17 Even so Faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone. (As stated, proper Faith will produce proper works. If not, the Holy Spirit says here that it is “dead faith.”)
18 Yes, a man may say, You have Faith, and I have works (proclaims the efforts by some to divide the two): show me your Faith without your works, and I will show you my Faith by my works. (This proclaims the fact that the profession of a lifeless Faith is profitless.)
Swaggart, Jimmy: The Expositor's Study Bible. Baton Rouge, LA : World Evangelism Press, 2005, S. 2146

Proper faith and proper works are never to be divided... Works become improper when we trust in them to produce righteousness. But Proper Faith Will produce the proper kinds of works in and through the life of a believer.

Someone said "o you are implying that we have to be obedient!!??" NO.. I am saying that IF you are in proper faith (Christ and Him Crucified) and you are being progressively sanctified by the Holy Spirits working in your life; You WILL be obedient... AND if you miss and fail , REPENT and keep your faith in Christ and Him Crucified which will result in being sanctified unto obedience. It is a life long process....

A human operating in the flesh is incapable of rendering proper obedience to God. BUT, when we put our faith in Christ and Him Crucified, the Holy Spirit comes to our help and performs His work IN us..

disobedience is sin and the way to victory is faith in Christ and His finished work at the Cross.

If the Christian puts their faith in their performance then they will always be trapped in disobedience because self effort is incapable of rendering proper obedience to God, thereby constantly trapped in sin because disobedience is sin. So the Believer needs to place their faith in Christ and Him crucified which will give them the help of the Holy Spirit; allowing them to break the sin/disobedience cycle.

I do not have to run to and fro; hither and yon; I do not have to lose the peace of Jesus. I do not have to move half way around the world. RIGHT HERE WHERE I AM, if I will put my faith in HIS sacrifice on Calvary; JESUS WILL MINISTER HIS PEACE INTO MY LIFE...... It is for you today too.......

After talking and listening to alot of conversation today; I can say with all my heart that the grass is not always greener somewhere else.... Learn to grow and flourish where you are at....

We may change our outer environment but only God can change our heart...

Love looks through a telescope.... Envy looks through a microscope....

The Power of Belief: What you believe translates directly into what you do.

Move away from Law church... "thou shalt wear this", "thou shalt not wear this"; "this is what you should do", "this is not what you should do". STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT.... Man looks on the outward, God looks on the heart; PREACH CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED......

The Holy Spirit will put holy in you; but you can't get there by rules and regulations.

I do not try to preach intellectualism or using lofty prose that leave my listeners scratching their heads.. The Gospel is the simplicity of Christ and Him Crucified. So simple that even a little Child can understand it. That is my take on it.

The Cross is made of none effect if we try to reach God through our mental capacities alone. OR any time we have anything as the object of our believing other than the finished work of Christ upon the Cross.

1 Cor. 1:17-18 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

Even your own past has to bow to the mighty name of Jesus and free you from its grave of regrets if God has called you.... The Cross has eliminated everything in the enemies arsenal of weapons that could possibly render your life ineffective. Cling to that old rugged Cross... Preach it...Proclaim it... It is the good news; the Hope of all mankind....

Reputation is what man "thinks" you are... Character is what God "knows" you are.....

Man can not qualify or disqualify a God called minister. No matter what man says; Keep Preaching Christ and Him crucified. If God accepts you on the basis of the finished work of His Son, that is all that matters. No man can be your covering; The Blood Of Jesus is your covering.

Acts 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

Prayer earns me nothing but does have many benefits and it is the responsibility of the preacher to explain those benefits and encourage the body of Christ to enter into a prayer life.

When I embraced the message of the Cross; God poured His compassion in me. Compassion acts.. This is a great ministry to help the worlds poorest kids to have something to eat. We need to work to allieviate their suffering. We are Christians.

Bear in mind, you do not earn any righteousness for yourself by helping the poor. You do it because of the love of God in you and to show that kindness and love to them. It is not about you; its about Jesus.

When I say I put my faith in Christ and Him Crucified for souls to be saved, what do I mean? I mean that because of Calvary God will deal with the hearts of men and when a believer talks to them about their soul or as a preacher is preaching, the Holy Spirit will anoint that situation.

It DOES NOT mean I can la la la around and not talk to anyone about Jesus, The Cross and Salvation....Rom. 10:13-17... Mark 16:15

It DOES NOT MEAN that I merely "believe" souls will get saved. I must tell them the good news of the Gospel........The EXPOSITORS STUDY BIBLE says that this is the responsibility of EVERY BELIEVER... Notes on Mark 16:15

we do not witness to sanctify ourselves, we witness to get OTHERS saved. People who call witnessing works have a focus problem,; Its all about them... I witness because it is all about Jesus.... AND because I don't want souls to go lost to hell forever and forever... The people who are calling witnessing works (though we can turn it into law) are a shame to the movement.

Believing in the message of the cross doesn't mean we stop soul winning... If really believe it correctly, we will reach out MORE and try to get people saved.... Trusting in the Holy Spirit to bring them in....

I am reading the book "Wigglesworth: A Man Who Walked With God." by George Stormont. In reading the section on the personal evangelism (soul winning) of Smith Wigglesworth, I can't help noticing the vast difference over today. Evangelism is not "helping" it is getting souls saved. Every Christian should read this book.

Witnessing your faith is not works... It is commanded by our Lord. And we do it out of Love.

Some people are too ignorant to realize that we do not witness to sanctify ourselves, we witness to get OTHERS saved. People who call witnessing works have a focus problem,; Its all about them... I witness because it is all about Jesus....

Every preacher in this world that knows and loves the message of the Cross is trying to get people saved... Duh.

It is our responsibility to tell those in our circle of influence about Jesus and His salvation because of Calvary. That is what my believing produces.

1 Peter 1:2 2Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied."

I want to be ready at the slightest breath of the Spirit, to go aside and spend time with the Lord. Smith Wigglesworth once said, "When the child of God ceases to hunger after righteousness and purity, then satan gets in".

I am useless to all the people in my life without the touch of the Lord on my life and the guidance of His Spirit leading me in all His ways.

If your faith is in Christ and Him Crucified, then the works the Holy Spirit births through you will be pure works... But if your faith is in your works, God will not accept them and, in fact, labels them all as impure...

Jesus did not say go into all the world and build a mega church... When you preach the truth (Christ and Him Crucified) the crowds may not be as large.. But No One should ever come into your church FOR ANY REASON without hearing the Gospel... To offer them social programs and leave their souls unattended is compromise......

WARNING to THE "APOSTLES" -by Andrew Strom.

2010-02-26T12:36:00.001-05:00

WARNING to THE "APOSTLES"
-Andrew Strom.

An Open Letter to Peter Wagner, Dutch Sheets & Other "Apostles".

I recently received a report of a new "Apostolic Network" headed
up by Dutch Sheets which held a gathering in Florida last week to
"carve up" territories for it's 'apostles', etc. I need to put in writing
what I believe the Lord would say to these men.

But first I need to remind us all of something. On June 23rd, 2008,
a group of "apostles and prophets" under Peter Wagner's headship
stood on a stage in Lakeland at the Todd Bentley revival - to lay
on hands and commission him, etc. But it was far more than that.
Peter Wagner called it an "apostolic alignment." He made the
following statement before all the TV cameras and all the people:

"I take the apostolic authority that God has given me and I decree
to Todd Bentley:
-Your power will increase.
-Your authority will increase.
-Your favor will increase.
-Your influence will increase.
-Your revelation will increase.
I also decree that:
-A new supernatural strength will flow through this ministry.
-A new life force will penetrate this move of God..."

Onlookers might have thought that Wagner was 'prophesying' the
above statements. But actually what he felt he was doing was
"decreeing" these things over Todd - since he was the 'head
apostle'. In a letter the following day, Wagner called this a
"groundbreaking event" and stated that, "We are now in a place
in what I see as the Second Apostolic Age..." (In other words,
a "new era" of real apostles).

So how did that work out for you, Peter? Well, literally within
weeks we found out that many of the "miracles" at Lakeland had
no foundation, and then Todd Bentley's wife separated from him
apparently over an affair he was having - and the entire 'revival' fell
to pieces in the worst way possible. That's how it worked out.

All the big Charismatic leaders that had stood on that stage hardly
knew what to do with themselves - they were so embarrassed.
And none more so than Peter Wagner - after making an "Apostolic
decree" like that. -Probably the most colossal disaster of his life.

So who pulled the rug out from under your "apostolic alignment",
Peter? I need to tell you that there are two responsible parties.
One is 'yourself' - clearly. And the second is GOD - because He
is now pitted against you and your so-called "apostles". He is the
one who did this to you.

You and your friends have presumed to an office and a place over
the Body that is simply not yours, and God is in the process of
taking you 'apostles' down - and all your "networks" with you.

Dutch Sheets - can I ask you please, what gives you the right to
carve up the Body of Christ in North America and parcel it out like
McDonalds franchises to all your buddies so they can be 'apostles'
over their own "territory"? Do you have any idea what you are
playing with? Don't you know that if your buddies are not real New
Testament Apostles then all they are doing is painting huge
targets on themselves and begging for the judgment of God?
How dare you treat the Body of Christ like a piece of Real Estate
that you can carve up for your own aggrandizement?

Because of men like you, God is about to judge the leadership
of the church. Do they call themselves an "apostle"? Well, God
is going to put them to the test. If they are not the real thing, they
make themselves His 'enemy' because they are blocking His
real Reformation. Every self-proclaimed "apostle and prophet" is
about to be put to the test. Oh, you call your group an "Apostolic
Council of Elders" or something similar? Expect God to come
calling, and if you are not the real thing, expect Him to take you
down. The Lord God is coming to take back His church with great
violence. And you guys are standing directly in His way.

I've heard that one of these big "apostles" in Canada once told his
network that their "apostle-ness" would be judged by the 'noses
and nickels' that they represented. (In other words, their "numbers"
and their reaping of money). Hmmmm. If I didn't know better, I
would call those the words of a hireling and a wolf.

As Lee Grady wrote about this 'Apostle-Mania':
"In some circles apostles demanded total allegiance from the
leaders who were "under" them. Some required a policy of "tithing
up," creating a monstrous organizational structure similar to a
spiritual Amway. So-called apostles with huge "downlines" made
exorbitant amounts of money. One leader even offered pastors the
opportunity to become "spiritual sons" by contributing $1,000 a
month to his ministry."

And yet here is what the TRUE apostle Paul wrote: "I think that
God has set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to
death... we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are
buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace... we are made as the
filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things..." (1 Cor 4:9-13).

Now THAT is true apostleship. Tell me, Mr. Modern Apostle, do
you match up to the New Testament apostles? If not, what on
earth do you think God is going to do to you if you claim that title falsely?

I believe that many true Apostles, when they do arise, will simply
REFUSE to carry such titles in any way. They will "minimize"
themselves, not exalt themselves. That is the heart of a true leader of God.

In closing, let me again warn those who have titled themselves
"apostle" or 'prophet' in the modern church. God is coming to
"clean house" and if you are not the real deal, expect Him to start
with you. It is as simple as that. You need to repent urgently of
your utter presumption. You have been warned.

Send feedback to- prophetic@revivalschool.com

God bless you all.

Andrew Strom.

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The Psychological Way or The Way Of The Cross ?

2010-02-03T09:48:00.003-05:00

Which will you choose. You cannot have both. They are tremendously opposed to each other. You will have to choose which worldview you will hold to.

In this blog, I am not going to attempt to give you the history of modern day psychology. I am simply going to highlight some of the contrasts between these two divergent paths; The psychological way vs The Way Of The Cross. Modern day psychotherapy has its roots in atheism, evolution, and humanism. Sadly, most denominations in modern Christianity have opted for the psychological way and have cast aside the way of the Cross.

The Bible holds ALL the answers of human behavior 2Peter 1:3
Psychology also claims to hold all the answers of human behavior.
The Bible tells us that man is an eternal soul St John 3:16
Psychology has as its foundation, evolution.
The Bible says that man is a sinner Romans 3:23
Psychology says that man is a victim.

The Bible says that the problem of man is an evil heart (Jer. 17:9) and that man is inherently evil.
Psychology says that the problem is man's environment and man is inherently good.
The Message of the Cross treats the very depths; the very core of man's problem, the heart. (Ez. 36:26-27, Eph 3:17, etc....)
Psychology treats only mans symptoms.
The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the answer (St. Matt. 11: 28-30)
Psychology says that therapy and "professional help" is the answer. Most psychology "professionals" will denigrate Faith and say that the minister of the Gospel is not qualified to help humanity.

The Bible tells us to deny self and crucify the flesh ( Matt. 16:24, Gal. 5:24).
Psychology says we should love "self" and pamper "flesh".
The Bible directs us to the Cross, which assures us the help of the Holy Spirit.
Psychology directs us to the flesh.
The Bible directs us to Faith in God (Mark 11:22).
Psychology directs us to self effort.
Self cannot improve upon self. Remember that.

The Word of God, The Bible, Leads us into repentance (Acts 26:20) and restoration (Gal 6:1).
Psychology offers only remorse and referral.
The Bible IS TRUTH....
Psychology is mere, mortal, flawed mans opinions.
The Bible says that God's truth is unchangeable (Psalm 119:89).
Psychology says that truth is determined by the majority and by culture.

There are many, many more contrasts that I could list for you but the bottom line is this; One simply cannot believe in the Bible and the message of the Cross; at least not as one ought, and also believe in psychology. It can't be done.
If you as a believer put your trust in anything other than Christ and Him Crucified, no matter how well intentioned, you are committing spiritual adultery. Rom 7.

Psychology puts man as the center of all things. Our Faith, from the Bible, puts Christ as the center and the ONLY answer for man. The two cannot be joined. Preachers of the Gospel who attempt to join the two will help no one. The only true help that is available is found in the word of God which is The Message Of The Cross....

Last Days Prophecies part 1

2010-01-29T14:22:00.003-05:00

The Word Of God; The Bible, has many things to say about the Last Days. From time to time, I am going to be coming on the blog with one or more prophecies from Scripture as it regards the Last days. Many of these prophecies will not climax until the Tribulation period but there are many we are seeing the early stages of fulfillment right now....

1)The Bible is clear that in the last days there will be False Bible teachers that will bring in heresies. They will have many followers, and also cause many to reject God's Word. One scripture that foretells this; there are many, is 2 Peter 2:1-2.
These false prophets will be money hungry, smooth talkers 2 Peter 2:3. A huge number of today's TV preachers are prime examples of this. Regrettably, most of this comes from the so called word of faith movement. It is not true Bible faith. True Bible faith is Faith in Christ and Him Crucified. Most of today's word of faith movement twists and perverts the scripture, uses misleading words, in order to make merchandise of you. Also the vast majority of the modern day prophetic movement also falls under the category of "false teachers".
You would do well to beware of anyone who puts experiences above the word of God. Anyone who claims visits from female angels every other day; (any day for that matter) is being mislead by dark forces. ( There are no female angels in the word).
The verses that they use to justify this from the book of Zech. refers to evil; not to female angels of God.
Any preacher or teacher who says that the blood does not atone, you need to run from that preacher/teacher like you would run from a poisonous snake; for that is really what they are.
Anyone that denies the Cross, the Holy Spirit or the Power of God can not be trusted in these last days. Stay away from any minister that teaches the Jesus died spiritually doctrine for it will surely lead you into more darkness. Put your faith exclusively in the finished work of Jesus upon the Cross and keep your faith there.

There is so much more that I could bring forth on this but I think you all get the point. Please keep watching for the next last days prophecy that we will list. God bless you all. KEEP YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED.........

Status update from facebook 4

2010-01-12T18:56:00.001-05:00

I personally believe that the church has been purposely "dumbed down" to the point it has become Theologically illiterate in order to prepare it to receive esoteric experiences and they value those experiences above the Word.

Status update from facebook 3

2010-01-12T18:55:00.001-05:00

Hwee-Jong Jang a new age business professor in South Korea claims that through revelation communicated to him through channeling, dreams, and energy readings; he can explain countless mysteries and prepare people for a "coming great change". I see this same type of thing at work in many churches under the guise of the modern prophetic movement.

Status update from facebook 2

2010-01-12T18:53:00.001-05:00

The key to all victory for a Christian is to put their faith in what Jesus did at the Cross and then, leave it there. Do not transfer your faith to any formula, ritual, law, rule, or anything else; Keep your faith solidly anchored in the Cross of Calvary and the work that Jesus there did.

Status update from facebook 1

2010-01-12T18:51:00.000-05:00

Todays esoteric prophets (so called) who are basing their walk with God on experiences and extra biblical "revelation" rather than on the Word, the Cross, and the Blood of Jesus; are conditioning the church for the greatest deception in recorded history.

FIVE POINTS of REVOLUTION -by Darren Smith.

2010-01-12T18:48:00.001-05:00

NOTE: Darren Smith runs an extensive ministry to the homeless
in Galveston, Texas - and is currently speaking with Andrew
Strom throughout the Southern states.

FIVE POINTS of REVOLUTION
-by Darren Smith.

After much prayer, I have decided to release these points of revolution.
I pray that you will pray over them and let God show you what to
do. Time is short, we must act now.

1. We must return to the pure faith that Christ ordained for us to
follow. Man has complicated faith to the point it is hard to find true
faith on this earth. We have far too many man-made doctrines that
lead us away from true simple faith. We have sought after knowledge
to the point that knowledge has taken place above Christ. From this,
the simple relational Gospel has been lost and replaced by systems
of religion that are only designed to build themselves.

More people are concerned with their doctrine than carrying out the
work of Christ on this earth. We have very educated people who
have a great head knowledge of Christ but lack the heart knowledge
that fruits of the Spirit flow from. These doctors of Theology put on
a show week after week, letting their preaching skills dazzle the
people, but their fruit never shines forth. Let's get real. How many
of these men would preach if their salary was taken away?

From these halls of religion, men echo a self-centered gospel that
really is no gospel at all, it brings forth no fruit. Today's church has
become a business simply put, putting out products to enrich itself.
It has become a Babylonian institution that only a revolution can
change. We must stop feeding the monster.

Pure simple faith is Loving God and Loving our neighbor. Do we
love God if we don't obey His commands? Jesus said that we don't.
If we are not doing the things Christ said, we are not in obedience.
Jesus taught us to live a life of simplicity building relationships
and making disciples, not building lavish buildings and a comfortable
life for our self. Are we loving our neighbor when we overlook his
needs? Would God rather us use our money to build temples and
ministry payrolls or to feed the hungry and take care of widows and
orphans? Would HE rather us buy the system's books and tapes
or spend our money spreading the Gospel to the lost? Shouldn't
our resources go to the work of the ministry? This will anger those
that are changing money in the name of the Lord and making
ministry a business. But it must be said, not only said but shouted.

2. We must examine our life by the Light of the Word. We cannot
examine ourselves by the doctrine of religion - only the Word of
God. Men build doctrines that are to be more accepted by the
world. Take for instance the prosperity message plaguing the
body today. It's designed to make you feel better about yourself
and the life you live. The people who are in leadership prosper by
design, those that follow pay the bill, but worse a false sense of
hope is sent out to people who simply can only be helped by the
simple truth. If you examine yourself by this doctrine or any other
manmade doctrine you cannot get a clear picture of where you
need to be or what you should be doing. Look at this simple
principle in 2 Cor 13:5 - "Test yourself to see if you are in the faith."
See if Christ is in you. That's a simple test so why not so it? Do I
love God? Am I keeping His commands? Do I love my neighbor?
If so, how do I show it through my actions? Am I taking care of
widows and orphans, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked? If
not, am I obeying Christ? Am I forgiving? Without forgiving you
cannot be forgiven. Why is this not taught today?

Am I kind, patient? Or am I full of envy and pride? In 1Cor 13:4-8
you can give yourself a simple test. Take out the word "love" and
place your name there and see if it fits. If Christ is in you, you
have the ability through Him to be all these things. Doctrines of
man give us excuses not to go deeper into relationship with Christ.
They teach us how to put up a facade of holiness, like how we look
or act on the outside, or rituals that we find comfort in - like church
attendance and tithing to the church. Christ asks for childlike
faith, simplicity in loving Him and our neighbor - a daily relationship.
You can't get this from religion, only from relationship. If you're not
passing the test, ask the Lord what you must do to pass and HE
will guide you. Religion will give you a list of things to do and a list
not to do. Christ will give you life and peace.

3. You must become temporary residents or travelers in this world.
We have put our roots down in a world that we are only passing
through, to the point that the culture has overtaken faith. 1 Peter 2:11.
Peter tells us to be aliens to this world and to abstain from fleshly
desires that war against us. What are these things that war against
us? The very culture of self that we live in today - from sexual
perversion to self-centered greed, to the attitude that we deserve
anything we want. This culture has brought down basic values and
destroyed the family in this nation. Just like Lot in Sodom, we have
grown so comfortable with the life it provides us we don't even care
about the sin around us. We have adjusted our religion to fit the
culture. We are at a point where nothing shocks us anymore, but
as long as we can keep our comforts it's OK. We love this world
and the things it affords us so much, we have missed the narrow
path and are trying to turn a deaf ear to the warnings of God for us to repent.

As much as I know this will make a lot of people mad, I must add
this point. Our national pride as Americans has helped us down
this road as well. We feel we are God's own nation even as we
have become more and more against God. Blinded by rhetoric
and blind patriotism we have let this country sink to an all-time low.
From abortion to gay marriage, we flaunt our rebellion before God
and then claim to be God's nation. If anyone dare say anything
about it, you are attacked for being anti-American and an extremist.

Well, I have news for you, Jesus himself was an extremist and views
on religion and government put Him on trial and the cross. Can you
make the point realistically that we are a Godly nation? I think not.
We must be willing to become aliens to this world and its ways.
The American dream is not from God. God wants us to be citizens
of the Kingdom of God and live accordingly. This means that we
are going to have to make some hard choices about what to do in
this world, some that will have very tough consequences to our flesh.

We must come out of Babylon and every one of her systems. This
means letting go of life as we know it and embracing the cross of
Christ. This will cause you to take stands that will be totally
counter-culture and revolutionary and most people in your life will
not understand. Don't forget that Jesus said that he would cause
division. As you pull away from this world, most will question your
actions and critics will tear at your every idea. If you are a traveler
here, it really doesn't matter.

4. Repentance and transparency are a must. We must get real
with ourselves and with others around us. Every time we cover up
sin and shortcomings we give our enemy weapons to use against
us. This is why true relationship in the body of Christ is so important.
We need to be able to minister out of our heart, and if we are not
clean, we become poison instead of healing. Some of the most
unforgiving and meanest people I have ever met I met in church.
I know men who stand and teach God's Word before others, that
are full of hate and unforgiveness. True relationship exposes these
issues and gives a chance for repentance to take place. I know
men that claim to love God but are racist and because of the facade
the modern church has built, they teach Sunday after Sunday with
this hate in their heart.

How can anyone help you if they are not open about their own
struggles? How can a man preach against adultery and have that
very thing in his own heart? We must get clean and open in the
Body to see the fullness of Christ in His Body.

It is from our weakness He is able to use us and we all have our
own areas that we have failed, and only through His love and grace
are we able to gain victory. I believe in being transparent and
sometimes I am told that I am too open about my life and struggles,
but I know if it is hidden, that the enemy will use it to destroy me.
I have preached meetings that when I asked everyone to raise
their hand if they have hidden sin such as porn and adultery in their
life that every man in the place raised their hand. At this I asked
them to come forward and repent and confess before God and man -
so they could be set free.

Hidden sin kills your spirit and robs you of your God-given destiny.
It must be dealt with. We must plant New Testament Fellowships
that teach these truths and put them into action so people can be
free. This level of openness is not comfortable, for we will all have
to admit that we have faults and problems. This will cause us to
have to deal with marital problems instead of running to divorce
court. We will have to be accountable for our actions and live
life without any excuses.

5. Absolute commitment to the cause of Christ. We must be willing
to lay down our life for Christ. This is easy to say but hard to put
in practice. Most believers say that they are willing to die for Christ,
but live a life that says just the opposite. Most will not put off their
self in even the simplest things in life such as giving from their
abundance to further the cause, much less taking time from their
life to serve. Many ask me how we left a comfortable home in the
country to live and serve in the inner city among the addicts and
prostitutes and homeless. I tell them God sent me here, I had
no choice in the matter. I'm not special, I just simply told the Lord,
I give you my life! Many sing these words over and over in songs,
but in reality they don't give Him anything that costs them time or money.

Think about how silly it is to say you would die for Christ but you're
not willing to give up anything of your own for Him. There are very
few people committed to the cause of Christ to the point of giving
their life, even though this is what He requires.

If you can't be faithful in giving in your daily life, you will not give
your life. If you can rest on the excuses of not having time or
enough money to help, you can rest on the excuse that you're not
called to this level. Let's go even deeper. If you can rest with the
condition of this nation and the church, then you are not a
revolutionary and there is no need for you to read any more of this
letter. But, if you can't rest in the excuses or in the condition of
this land, it is time for you to take action even at risk to your life.

In closing, I would like to share a few thoughts with you about
revolutions and revolutionaries. Many people are fascinated with
people who will risk it all for their cause and because of this they
will stay just close enough to watch and take credit for being a part
if anything they think is good happens. But as soon as the battle
gets too hot, they turn and run and deny they had any part. For the
most part it is a lonely road that the revolutionary walks. Most of
the time there is nothing to show that they are winning, the isolation
takes a toll on them and at times they question if the fight is worth
it at all.

In our case, the fight is worth it because it is the Lord's. Many
times, the change that is brought about is long after the revolutionary
has given his life in obscurity on a forgotten battlefield. Then
someone will stumble onto the cause and the passion that he held
for it and stories from his time will inspire the next revolutionary to
pick up the cause and lose his life for it's sake. Many times then,
the man who gave it all and died in a forgotten battle will become
known and many who are not willing to pay the price will sit around
and tell stories of this great man who gave his life. But it is the one
that is inspired to take action that carries the battle forth without
any regard to his own life. We must be willing to die on our own
forgotten battlefield in this revolution for it is not ours, it is the Lord's.
The battle lines are clearly drawn, it's time to choose our side and
commit our life. Are you ready?

-Darren Smith,
www.streetscapeministries.com
www.revivalstreet.com
www.unitethefight.com

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'AVATAR' and PAGANISM - Movie Review -by Andrew Strom.

2010-01-04T17:24:00.001-05:00

'AVATAR' and PAGANISM - Movie Review
-by Andrew Strom.

'Avatar' is an enormous worldwide blockbuster movie - the first to
use truly lifelike 3D - a huge leap forward that is sure to revolutionize
the entire industry. I managed to see the movie in 3D this week,
and like everyone I was utterly wowed by the lifelike 3D images
and special effects. But there were some things about the film
that truly disturbed me.

Maybe we should expect spiritual outrageousness from Hollywood
by now. After all, they hardly seem to be able to make a spiritual
statement in their movies without alienating every Christian in
the audience. (They have been warned about this before. As
Michael Medved has stated, Hollywood loses billions of dollars
simply by offending Christians and church-goers - who number in
the hundreds of millions in America). They often don't seem to care.

But Avatar takes this to a new extreme. Many critics have
commented that it has a deeply pro-environmentalist message.
And indeed, it seems almost loaded with every touchy-feely New
Age environmentalist theme that you can imagine. Some critics
are calling it "Dances With Wolves in space." But it sure does
look amazing - in fact, stunningly real. It truly is a work of art.

The futuristic story revolves around an ex-marine posted to a planet
with rich mining deposits - who has to inhabit an alien "avatar"
body so he can infiltrate the local tribe that opposes the mining.
Thus he becomes one of these blue-colored humanoids.

Though the film's images are stunning audiences worldwide, the
spirituality in it is at the far extreme of New Age. And it is not
"subtle" either. It is a huge part of the story. More and more you
see the "Gaia"-type 'Earth-goddess' stuff - plus pagan or wicca-like
rituals - until half the film seems almost saturated with them.

As I said, most people have grown to expect this stuff from
politically-correct and spiritually-weird Hollywood by now. But we
are talking here about the most expensive ($300 million) and most
revolutionary new film in history. Surely they have to be concerned
that preaching such a message may lose them hundreds of
millions of dollars in potential revenue? Apparently not.

It always strikes me as sad when these great breakthroughs in
the arts fail to glorify the One who gave us creativity in the first
place. And sadly, this is one of those times. And I guess that is
why, even after the awe and wonder of seeing one of the greatest
visual spectacles of our age, I left the theatre feeling pretty flat.
And I wonder how many others felt the same - even non-Christians.
I wonder how many left sensing there was something very wrong
at the core of this story. I would guess it might be quite a few.
(There have been a lot of complaints about the storyline). Even
many non-Christians may not like seeing the "Earth mother
goddess" getting all the glory. Which is why I think this movie will
never take top spot as the most-watched film in history - despite
all the money spent on it. And also why I think the sequel will
never earn the kind of money that they hope for.

Will Hollywood learn its lesson? I strongly doubt it.

Send feedback to - prophetic@revivalschool.com

God bless you all.

Andrew Strom.

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OTHERS MAY: You CANNOT

2010-01-04T17:14:00.002-05:00

OTHERS MAY: You CANNOT
-by G.D. Watson.

If God has called you to be really like Jesus He will draw you into
a life of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands
of obedience, that you will not be able to follow other people, or
measure yourself by other Christians.

Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful,
may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out
their plans, but you cannot do it, and if you attempt it, you will
meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you
sorely penitent.

Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their successes,
of their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any
such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep
mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your
good works.

The Lord may let others be honored and put forward, and keep you
hidden in obscurity, because He wants to produce some choice
fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in
the shade. He may let others be great, but keep you small. He
may let others do a work for Him and get the credit for it, but He
will make you work and toil on without knowing how much you are
doing; and then to make your work still more precious He may let
others get credit for the work which you have done, and thus make
YOUR REWARD TEN TIMES GREATER when JESUS COMES.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you, with a jealous love,
and will rebuke you for little words and feelings or for wasting your
time, which other Christians never feel distressed over. So make
up your mind that God is an Infinitely Sovereign Being, and has a
right to do as He pleases with His own. He may not explain to you
a thousand things which puzzle your reason in His dealings with
you, but if you absolutely sell yourself to be His love slave, He will
wrap you up in Jealous Love, and bestow upon you many blessings
which come only to those who are in the inner circle.

Settle it forever, then that you are to DEAL DIRECTLY WITH the
HOLY SPIRIT, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your
tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that
He does not seem to use with others. Now, when you are so
possessed with the living God that you are, in your secret heart,
pleased and delighted over this PECULIAR, PERSONAL, PRIVATE,
JEALOUS GUARDIANSHIP and MANAGEMENT OF the HOLY
SPIRIT OVER YOUR LIFE, then you will have found the vestibule
of Heaven.

SOURCE: Faith, Prayer, & Tract League,
Tract #76; Grand Rapids, MI 49504.

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The "JESUS DIED SPIRITUALLY DECEPTION"

2009-12-30T09:30:00.001-05:00

The "JESUS DIED SPIRITUALLY DECEPTION"

Under inspiration, Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 12:3: “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, (anathema) and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” Anathema meant a thing devoted to God without being redeemed, doomed to destruction (a sinner, or satanic being). If Christ became sin He is accursed, which is exactly what some Bible teachers are saying today. While Jesus became a curse in our place this is a different word than accursed.

The Bible commends those who study to show themselves approved by rightly dividing the Word of truth. This often takes time and effort to get a true revelation from the Scriptures. There are those who claim to have a revelation, but investigation determines that their source was not the Scriptures but knowledge from another source outside of Scripture. They then conform the written Word to this new revelation. “New” more often means false! As the saying goes, if it’s new it’s not true: if its true it’s not new. There is too much untrue new today that has replaced the old that is true. Peter says, “you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior” (2 Peter 3:2).

There is no greater example of this than from the word faith teachers who have taken certain Scriptures as proof text of their teaching that Jesus died spiritually not only physically on the cross. They claim when he was on the cross he became sin, he died sinful and descended into the earth for three days. He did not recover from this condition until after he became born again, as the first born of many brethren. They state the reason he needed to be born again is because he died spiritually and became sin. Then Jesus found himself in the same position as anyone else born in sin. This makes Christ a sinner without being born in sin or ever sinning.

The question everyone needs to ask is, does the Bible actually teach this? If so we should embrace it. If not, what does it do to the Jesus of the Bible?’ Numerous cult groups have changed Jesus into a mere man or an angel, or someone other than the God who became sinless man and was victorious by dying on the cross. This Jesus could be worse.

To start we need to look at their view of the cross and what exactly was accomplished there. Lets hear them tell it for themselves…Kenneth Hagin, “The death of Jesus Christ was not a physical death alone. If it had been a physical death, Abel would have paid the price for mankind. He was the first man that died because of honoring God and His Word. If it had been a physical death only, it wouldn't have worked! And if He hadn't died spiritually, that body never would have died.” (What Happened From the Cross to the Throne, Tape #00-0303)

Notice the distortion of understanding the Biblical facts. Abel was murdered by his brother, it was not a willing sacrificial death. Jesus, although murdered by his brethren, went willingly. It was not a mistake. It was done at a specific place at a specific time in a specific way. God ordained it through the hands of men of Israel and the Roman authorities.

Kenneth Hagin again states, “He (Jesus) tasted spiritual death for every man. And his spirit and inner man went to hell in my place. Can’t you see that? PHYSICAL DEATH WOULDN’T REMOVE YOUR SINS. He tasted death for every man. He’s talking about spiritual death.” (How Jesus obtained his name tape # 44HO1 side 1)

Kenneth Copeland also reiterates what his mentor says, “When His blood poured out it did not atone.” (Kenneth Copeland: From a personal letter to D.R.McConnell, dated 12/3/79. Cited in A Different Gospel, p.120) Just to be sure this is not misinterpreted he says the same to The Christian Research Institute that requested a statement “...When His blood poured out, it did not atone. It did away with the handwriting of the ordinances that were against us.” (K. Copeland, Form letter, March 12, 1979 )

Copeland teaches, “Because his physical death was not enough for the payment of sins there was a another way for sins payment. Jesus put Himself into the hands of Satan when He went to that cross, and took that same nature that Adam did [when he sinned].” (Kenneth Copeland, The Incarnation (Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1985, audiotape #01-0402) side 1.)

What actually did happen to Christ’s spirit is seen in Luke 23:46: “Father, into Thy hands I commit My Spirit” ( Matthew 27:50; John 19:30). Jesus put Himself into the hands of the Father, not Satan. He pronounced His time of departure, yielding His spirit to God the Father, and then breathed His last. He gave His body for us, and committed His spirit to God. His spirit did not die, or go to sleep, nor was it taken captive in hell. The cross was a place of victory not of defeat. In response to CRI concerns of his view of the atonement and spiritual death Copeland sent to answer their questions concerning his view of Christ's atoning work - “Since He (Jesus) was made to be sin, He had to pay the penalty for sin. He had to die spiritually, which took Him into the regions of the damned, before He could redeem us.” K. Copeland, Form letter dated March 12, 1979 (Christian Research Institute).

The Bible-God was reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians5:19). Jesus never had the fallen nature of Adam. If he did, it would have disqualified Himself as the sacrifice. How could he reconcile the world if he became something other than the sinless sacrifice? The Bible teaches that Christ was separate from sinners and did not atone for himself.

Common sense should prevail. God in Isaiah 53:11 calls Jesus as His “righteous servant” during the time of His suffering on the cross? If Jesus were truly transformed into a Satanic being or had the nature of Satan he could not be called righteous by God. If Jesus took on the nature of Satan he would hardly be praying for His enemies, instead of “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” (Lk.23:34) he would also be asking for revenge. Satan's enemy is the Church, so then Christ would not be dying for the forgiveness of sins. He would not want to remove sin if he had the nature of Satan, instead he would want to promote it. Which is unconsciously what the faith teachers do when they move the atonement event to a later time and place.

Which death paid for our sins

Because of their expanding theology, which brings the atonement as a continuation, they have read into passage to conclude Jesus died a double death, both physically and spiritually. One of the main texts they make use of to promote the double-death of Christ (physical and spiritual) is Isaiah 53:9, “He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death...” In the Hebrew the word for death in this verse is in the plural form, deaths. This is interpreted as proof that Jesus suffered a double-death, both physical (his body) and spiritual (his spirit) death on the cross! Was Jesus’ death both a physical as well as spiritual one?

The word for DEATH in Hebrew is mawet; it appears 150 times in the Old Testament. The foremost and obvious interpretation of this passage is in the context itself. “With the rich in His death;” this is in reference to his body being buried in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb. (Matthew 27:57-60) It would be ridiculous to say that both his body and spirit were in the tomb, since that would go against Scripture as well as the doctrine the faith teachers are promoting.

D.R McConnell explains the Hebrew plural in this text in relation to Kenyon's teachings: “Plural nouns are extremely common in the Hebrew Scriptures. They are not just used to denote numerical plurality, but also to emphasize a particular meaning of the noun. In Hebrew, plural nouns express majesty, rank, excellence, magnitude and intensity. In Isaiah 53:9, 'deaths' is a plural of intensity used by the writer to indicate that the death mentioned was a particularly violent one. It no more means that the king of Tyre died two deaths than that the Messiah died two deaths.” (D.R. McConnell, p.128.)

V. 9 reads: “And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his deaths” (bemotav). In his deaths is a Hebrew way of speaking and means in His violent death or something of that type. That the word death is plural and says nothing about the servant. For even though the plural death is used, the reference remains singular: his. There is no reference to a subject, or to a servant, in the plural form. That would be, in their deaths, bemotehem.

The verse has, “in his deaths.” The word “deaths” is in the plural. The Hebrew plural form “deaths” can also mean violent death. Then the translation would be: “And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his violent death.” Christ's death was not something he deserved, but did for us.

Isa.53:9 The plural deaths intensifies the force, Adam by sin `dying died' (Gen. 2:17, margin) incurred death physical and spiritual. So Messiah, His substitute, endured death in both senses: spiritual, during His temporary abandonment by the Father; physical, when He expired. (from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary)

Greek Scholars agree it was a violent death. Another example of this interpretation is in Ezek. 28:8-10, which depicts the violent and certain death of the king of Tyre: “you will die the death of those who are slain.” Keil and Delitzsch, in their Commentary on the Old Testament, Vol. 7, Isaiah, inform us that in both the Isaiah and Ezekiel passages, the plural form for death is an example of pluralis exaggerativus: “it is applied to a violent death, the very pain of which makes it like dying again and again.” It obviously does not mean that you will literally die more than one death, no one dies over and over. It is describing of the intensity of that one death.

Jesus himself explained what his death meant when he told us to remember him by partaking in both the body and blood. These are physical elements of a physical activity with a spiritual meaning (Luke 22:19,20; 1Corinthians11:24-26). In 1 Corinthians 11 we are told that as often as we eat the bread and drink the cup we are “proclaiming the Lord’s death till He comes.” Which death are we announcing? This Scripture speaks of only one death involved in redemption, a physical death. This is the death we are to remember him by. The wafer represents His body and the wine represents His blood. The wafer was made with no leaven in it, as leaven is a symbol of sin. Therefore Christ was sinless. Mark 14:22-24 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.” Paul states in 1 Cor. 10:16-17: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? Hebrews 13:21 calls this sacrifice the “blood of the everlasting covenant.” In other words, without the blood we cannot have a relationship with God; this involves his physical death. There is no element in the Lord’s Supper to remind us of his “spiritual” death. Jesus spoke of laying down His physical life in John 15:13, not his spirit.

In John 6:51, Jesus describes Himself as, “...the living Bread which came down from heaven, and the bread which I shall give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” He did not speak of giving his spirit with his body nor his spirit separately- but HIS FLESH for the life of the world. The word “flesh” indicates the body. Jesus never teaches anything about his spirit being involved in the atonement.

This sacrifice is dependent upon a physical death. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. The atonement came by the blood, the life of man. The blood atones, not any suffering by itself, before or after the cross. All the Old Testament types and symbolic usages of sacrifices show Christ as the fulfillment of the law and the sacrifices. No Old Testament animal sacrifice had any relationship to a spiritual death. John uses Old Testament typology as he introduced Jesus as “the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”; this was done by death.

The Bible- Col.1:20: “And by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross… yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.”

This is related to a physical death. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. Even if he did die spiritually, Its not his spiritual death that could have any importance but the atonement through the blood, the life of man. The blood atones, not any suffering by itself before or after the cross. The whole Old Testament types and symbolic usage's of sacrifices show Christ as the fulfillment of the law.

Both Paul's epistles to different churches explain the very same things.

Col. 1:14: “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

Eph. 1:7: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”

Heb. 10:19-20 “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh.”

Revelation 1:5“...To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.”

He suffered only one death and it was on the cross, the death of his flesh. In this death he became obedient to the Father (Philippians 2:8). It is by this act of submission that we were redeemed and restored to fellowship.

BECOMING SIN FOR US

2 Corinthians 5:21 Word-Faith promoters confuse the meaning of this passage, since it is important for their doctrine of substitution and validates the idea of Jesus suffering in hell. Paul says: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might be the righteousness of God in him.” Isaiah 53:5 tells us that the chastisement of our peace was laid “upon” Him. Isaiah 53:6 say’s the Lord laid our iniquity “on” him, not “in” him; there was no change in nature. Our sin was laid to his account. He bore its penalty as a punishment, as our substitution; he carried it away (fulfilling the typology of the scapegoat in Lev.16), not becoming sin or crushed by it. As it says in v.10, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. How? By being a lamb led to the slaughter. V.12 tells us he made intercession for the transgressors, which would be hard to do if you became one of them. Since God does not hear the prayer of a sinful man, especially the sin fullest human that ever lived. (the faith teachers he became worse than all having every sin imaginable).

It was E.W. Kenyon that explained “When this happened, spiritual death, the nature of Satan, took possession of His Spirit.... He was to partake of Spiritual Death, the nature of the Adversary.... Jesus knew that the moment had come, and He was to be made Sin. He must partake of that dread nature of the Adversary. His body would become mortal. Satan would become His master.... He [Jesus] had been lifted up as a serpent. Serpent is Satan. Jesus knew He was going to be lifted up, united with the Adversary.” (What Happened from the Cross to the Throne Kenyon's Gospel Publishing Society, 1969, 20, 33, 44-45)

Creflo Dollar “He’s got to look like a sinner. Or they’re not going to receive Him into hell, you’ve got to be a sinner. He’s got to somehow look like that serpent on that stick in Moses’ day. He’s got to look like a serpent in order to be taken in. And Jesus who had never sinned, made an exchange with His covenant partner. He says “Let Me wear your coat of sin. It’ll make Me look like a sinner. I’ve never sinned, but if I can put your coat of sin on, when I get back I’m going to give you my coat of righteousness. So The bible says that He who had not sinned was made sin. (Our Equality with God Through Righteousness 1/21/2001)

Jesus had to “accept the sin nature of Satan.” (Kenneth Copeland, What Happened from the Cross to the Throne, side 2.)

Nowhere in the Scripture does it say, God made Him to be a sinner' but 'He had made Him to be sin.' This occurred by taking our place as a substitution. Contrary to Kenyon's theology Jesus always was mortal in his human nature, and nowhere does Scripture say Satan became his master. God subject to Satan is not the teaching of the bible in any shape or form.

Jesus speaking to Copeland teaches him, “It was a sign of Satan that was hanging on the cross....I accepted, in my own spirit, spiritual death; and the light was turned off.” (Kenneth Copeland, What Happened from the Cross to the Throne, side 2.)

Benny Hinn agrees “Ladies and gentlemen, the serpent is a symbol of Satan. Jesus Christ knew the only way He would stop Satan is by becoming one in nature with him. You say, 'What did you say? What blasphemy is this?' No, you hear this! He did not take my sin; He became my sin. Sin is the nature of hell. Sin is what made Satan...It was sin that made Satan. Jesus said, 'I'll be sin! I'll go to the lowest place! I'll go to the origin of it! I won't just take part in it, I'll be the totality of it!' “ (Benny Hinn” program, TBN, 12/15/90 )

First we need to know that the origin of sin was not Hell nor does Hell have a nature, therefore Jesus did not become or go to hell. The origin of sin for mankind the bible teaches is found in Adam the first man (Rom.5:12). Many of these men teach on Hell not as a place to avoid for punishment from our sin, but a place that Christ went because of sin! (Think about it, you rarely hear about eternal judgment as the consequence of not having your sin forgiven).

Paul warns in 1 Cor. 12:3 “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, (anathema) and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. “ Anathema meant a thing devoted to God without being redeemed, doomed to destruction (a sinner, satanic being). If Christ became sin he is accursed, which is exactly what the faith teachers are saying. This would be different than the curse of the law in Gal. 3:13-14 “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) this shows he took the law away that made one guilty when they did not keep it perfectly. It also shows it occurred on the cross.( Col.2:14-15)

2 Cor. 5:21 In Adam Clarke's commentary he states “He made him who knew no sin (who was innocent), a sin-offering for us. The word hamartia (NT:266) occurs here twice: in the first place it means sin, i.e. transgression and guilt; and of Christ it is said, He knew no sin, i.e. was innocent; for not to know sin is the same as to be conscious of innocence; … to be conscious of nothing against one's self, is the same as … to be unimpeachable.

In the second place, it signifies a sin-offering, or sacrifice for sin, and answers to the chaTa'ah (OT:2401) and chaTa'at (OT:2401) of the Hebrew text; which signifies both sin and sin-offering in a great variety of places in the Pentateuch. The Septuagint translates the Hebrew word by hamartia (NT:266) in 94 places in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, where a sin-offering is meant; and where our version translates the word not sin, but an offering for sin. Had our translators attended to their own method of translating the word in other places where it means the same as here, they would not have given this false view of a passage which has been made the foundation of a most blasphemous doctrine; namely, that our sins were imputed to Christ, and that he was a proper object of the indignation of Divine justice, because he was blackened with imputed sin; and some have proceeded so far in this blasphemous career as to say, that Christ may be considered as the greatest of sinners, because all the sins of mankind, or of the elect, as they say, were imputed to him, and reckoned as his own. One of these writers translates the passage thus: . … God accounted Christ the greatest of sinners, that we might be supremely righteous. Thus they have confounded sin with the punishment due to sin. Christ suffered in our stead; died for us; bore our sins (the punishment due to them), in his own body upon the tree, for the Lord laid upon him the iniquities of us all; that is, the punishment due to them; explained by making his soul-his life, an offering for sin; and healing us by his stripes. (from Adam Clarke's Commentary)

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary on 2 Cor. 5:21 “…the representative guilt-bearer of the aggregate sin of all men past, present, and future. The sin of the world is one; therefore the singular, not the plural, is used; its manifestations are manifold (John 1:29: cf. Rom 8:3-4; Gal 3:13). [For us]-Greek, `in our behalf' (cf. John 3:14). Christ was represented by the brazen serpent, the form, but not of the substance, of the old serpent. At his death on the cross the sin-bearing for us was consummated.(from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary)

Albert Barnes notes on 2 Cor. 5:21, If the declaration that he was made “sin” hamartian (NT:266) does not mean that he was sin itself, or a sinner, or guilty, then it must mean that he was a sin-offering-an offering or a sacrifice for sin; and this is the interpretation which is now generally adopted by expositors; or it must be taken as an abstract for the concrete, and mean that God treated him as if he were a sinner. The former interpretation, that it means that God made him a sin-offering,”

2 Cor. 5:21 Locke renders this: probably expressing the true sense, “For God hath made him subject to suffering and death, the punishment and consequence of sin, as if he had been a sinner, though he were guilty of no sin.” To me, it seems probable that the sense is, that God treated him as if he had been a sinner; that he subjected him to such pains and woes as would have been a proper punishment if he had been guilty; that while he was, in fact, in all senses perfectly innocent, and while God knew this, yet that in consequence of the voluntary assumption of the place of man which the Lord Jesus took, it pleased the Father to lay on him the deep sorrows which would be the proper expression of his sense of the evil of sin; that he endured so much suffering, as would answer the same great ends in maintaining the truth, and honor, and justice of God, as if the guilty had themselves endured the penalty of the Law. This, I suppose, is what is usually meant when it is said “our sins were imputed to him;” and though this language is not used in the Bible, and though it is liable to great misapprehension and perversion, yet if this is its meaning, there can be no objection to it.

(Certainly Christ's being made sin, is not to be explained of his being made sin in the abstract, nor of his having actually become a sinner; yet it does imply, that sin was charged on Christ, or that it was imputed to him, and that he became answerable for it. Nor can this idea be excluded, even if we admit that “sin-offering” is the proper rendering of hamartia (NT:266) in the passage. “That Christ,” says an old divine commenting on this place, “was made sin for us, because he was a sacrifice for sin, we confess; but therefore was he a sacrifice for sin because our sins were imputed to him, and punished in him.” …”All such views as go to make the Holy Redeemer a sinner, or guilty, or deserving of the sufferings he endured, border on blasphemy,” etc. Nor is it wiser to affirm that “if Christ was properly guilty, it would make no difference in this respect, whether it was by his own fault or by imputation.” What may be meant in this connection by “properly guilty,” we know not. But this is certain, that there is an immense difference between Christ's having the guilt of our iniquities charged on him, and having the guilt of his own so charged.” (from Barnes' Notes)

A.T Robertson states He made to be sin (hamartian epoieôsen). The words “to be” are not in the Greek.
“Sin” here is the substantive, not the verb. God “treated as sin” the one “who knew no sin.” But he knew the contradiction of sinners (Heb 12:3). We may not dare to probe too far into the mystery of Christ’s suffering on the Cross, but this fact throws some light on the tragic cry of Jesus just before he died: “My God, My God, why didst thou forsake me?” (Matthew 27:46). (Robertson's Word pictures)

Robertson’s comment,” We may not dare to probe too far into the mystery of Christ’s suffering on the Cross.” Meaning its depth is left to God alone. But this is exactly what the faith teachers do, and because of this they come to the wrong conclusions. By going beyond what the Scripture states!

I John 3:5 says, “And you know he appeared to take away our sins, and in him, THERE IS NO SIN,” literally meaning that he had no sin before, during, nor after the cross. While many shift the atonement event to after the cross, there are some who may not understand that they are saying that there is NO salvation in the cross! But Paul states in 1 Corinthians1 that there is no salvation apart from the cross.

The UNFINISHED WORK ON THE CROSS

E.W. Kenyon wrote “We have sung `Nearer the cross' and we have prayed that we might be `Nearer the cross' but the cross has no salvation in it. It is a place of failure and defeat” (Advanced Bible Course, p.279)

Here is where Hagin and Copeland his disciple get his non-fundamental ideas. No salvation in the Cross! What does Paul say in 1 Cor.1, there is no salvation apart from the cross.

“Satan conquered Jesus on the Cross and took His spirit to the dark regions of hell” (Kenneth Copeland, Holy Bible: Kenneth Copeland Reference Edition 1991 p.129) To put this statement in the bible as a commentary (his edition) shows ones contempt for the truth.

Did Jesus say, “It is unfinished!”? Or “FINISHED” The Greek word for “it is finished means “paid in FULL.” It was used to wipe away any debt that someone would owe to another.

Copeland is adamant “The plan of redemption BEGAN when Jesus said “It is FINISHED”.” (Classic Redemption, p.13) “Jesus death on the cross was not enough to save us.” (What Happened From the Cross to the Throne, Tape #00-0303), (Believer's Voice of Victory, September 1991)

After he dies spiritually he is not made alive (born again) until his suffers for our sin in HELL. According to Frederick Price's gospel: “Do you think that the punishment for our sin was to die on a cross? If that were the case, the two thieves could have paid your price. No, the punishment was to go into hell itself and to serve time in hell separated from God…Satan and all the demons of hell thought that they had Him bound and they threw a net over Jesus and dragged Him down to the very pit of hell itself to serve our sentence.” (Frederick K.C. Price, Ever Increasing Faith Messenger (June 1980) 7)

The evidence of Scripture is overwhelming testifying to the fact that Christ’s death upon the cross was a physical death only, there was no suffering in hell. He had victory on the cross, not defeat! (John 2:19-21; Ephesians 2:15; Col. 1:22; Hebrews 10:10; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; 4:1). One does not have to investigate all the Greek definitions to understand this. All they need to do is rightly divide the Word, looking at all the information on salvation and the crucifixion, to see what God has said about the event and what occurred.

The Bible- Galatians 6:14: “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” 1 Cor.2:2. “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Why say this if it is a place of defeat?

“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God” (Romans 3:25).

“How much more shall the blood' of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14).

A sin offering was to be pure without ANY DEFECT! What made Jesus' offering acceptable to God was that His was a sinless offering, a Holy and unblemished offering to God. How could Jesus have literally become sin when Hebrews 9:14 tells us that He offered Himself “without blemish to God”. “ Leviticus 6:25-29 clearly shows that the sin offering was “most holy” to God both before and after its death! 1 Peter 1:18-20 “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. ...a Lamb without blemish. “ Just as 1 Jn.3:5 states, in him was NO SIN.

“How much more shall the blood' of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14).

Paul wrote the Ephesians that “Christ loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” (Eph. 5:2).

Benny Hinn actually says, “Had He (Jesus) not offered Himself through the Holy Ghost, He would not be accepted in the eyes of God the Father. Nor would He have endured the sufferings of the cross. Had He not presented Himself through the Holy Ghost, His blood would not have remained pure and spotless. And let me add this: Had the Holy Spirit not been with Jesus, He would have sinned.” (Benny Hinn, Good Morning Holy Spirit, (Word, 1991) p.135)

What Hinn is proposing is that Christ was not God in his intrinsic nature and needed the Holy Ghost to keep him sinless. While it is true as he was in a state of submission that the holy Spirit was involved, it does not mean he lost his nature as God at any time, not before nor after the cross. But Hinn says he took on he nature of Satan when he was on the cross. In a conversation with Paul crouch he states Benny Hinn: “Jesus Christ destroyed the power of Satan on earth, but destroyed Satan in the under world, the Holy Ghost wasn’t there. Think about that.” Yes, Think about that!

Notice what the book of Hebrews states, which is a NT commentary on the book of Leviticus.

The Bible Heb. 9:11-13 “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. “So he entered the most holy place. How could he do this if he was made sin if he was defiled in ANY way?

Heb. 9:18-22 “Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”

Heb 10:4-10 “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come--In the volume of the book it is written of Me--To do Your will, O God.' “ Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Lev. 17:11 for ...the life of the flesh is in the blood...it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul.”

Going to Hell to suffer

The faith teachers explain that all was lost on the cross, nothing won. Jesus became the victim of the satanic kingdom tortured unlike any other because he came to save us.

Jesus said on the cross before he expired “Father into your hands I commit my Spirit,” but according to their view it didn't happen he was committed into Satan's hands. This means the Father did not accept the sacrifice, but instead rejected it by allowing him to be taken into the enemy hands. Lets hear them tell it as they express it in many different ways.

Hagin “Do you think that the punishment for our sin was to die on a cross? If that were the case, the two thieves could have paid your price. No the punishment was to go into hell itself and to serve time in hell separated from God ... Satan and all the demons of hell thought that they had him bound, and they threw a net over Jesus and they dragged Him down to the very pit of hell itself to serve our sentence.”

“Satan conquered Jesus on the Cross and took His spirit to the dark regions of hell” (Kenneth Copeland, Holy Bible: Kenneth Copeland Reference Edition 1991 p.129.)

“Jesus went into hell to free mankind from the penalty of Adam's high treason . . . When His blood poured out it did not atone. . . . Jesus spent three horrible days and nights in the bowels of this earth getting back for you and me our rights with God”. (Kenneth Copeland: From a personal letter to D.R.McConnell, dated 12/3/79. found in his book A Different Gospel, p.120)

Notice the clear statement, he went to hell to pay the price. But more importantly is his distorted view of what Jesus is paying for. Its not about high treason its about the sin nature we inherited from Adam and have thus become separated from God.

Copeland defends this, declaring, “it must be preached because it's ... the Truth and it sets people free.” “The day that Jesus was crucified, God's life, that eternal energy .. moved out of Him and He allowed the devil to drag him into the depths of hell as if He were the most wicked sinner who ever lived..[and] to come under Satan's control .. [or] His body would have never died. ...” ( Believer's Voice of Victory, quoted in Berean call September, 1991)

Copeland describes “...Got Him (Jesus) in there. Jesus said three days and three nights the Son of Man will suffer in the heart of the Earth like Jonah in the belly of the whale. Suffered there. suffered your penalty. Suffered my penalty. … the moment God was satisfied, He said, and He shouted right at the very portals of Heaven, and His word went into the pit, into that pit, the lousy guts of this earth, and He bypassed paradise...Jesus is down in that pit. He’s suffering down in there and all of a sudden (yells)”Thy throne O God is Forever !!!(crowd cheers) He went deeper into that pit than any man had ever gone. He suffered all sin. No man has ever committed “all” sin, but that One suffered all sin, all sickness, all disease - the entire curse of the Law. “Made a curse for” - we don’t have any concept of what He went through down there in the bowels of that place called Hell. (Believers voice of victory, Copeland 9/24/97) despite his saying this he is able to describe in detail what the bible does not.

“He [Jesus] allowed the devil to drag Him into the depths of hell....He allowed Himself to come under Satan's control...every demon in hell came down on Him to annihilate Him....They tortured Him beyond anything anybody had ever conceived. For three days He suffered everything there is to suffer.” (Kenneth Copeland, “The Price of It All,” 3.)

The Bible says it was for three hours on the cross the judgment of God fell on Jesus for our behalf. This is not enough according to Copeland and others, so it becomes days long. The location, HELL!

Joyce Meyers writes, “During that time He entered hell, where you and I deserved to go because of our sin. He paid the price there. ...no plan was too extreme. ...” (The most important decision you will ever make p. 35, J. Meyers)

To her credit she also says....... that sinless blood had been shed to pay for man's sins.” p. 38. But she then writes, “For three days He was alone paying for our sins as “only a man.” Its somewhat confusing on what she actually believes. Which is it, the cross or the cross plus. To say he atoned for our sins as “only a man” seems to deny the hypostatic union of the two natures in the person of Christ as well.

Fred Price has allegiance in the same camp as he also teaches “Do you think that the punishment for our sin was to die on a cross? If that were the case, the two thieves could have paid your price. No, the punishment was to go into hell and to serve time in hell separated from God....Satan and all the demons of hell thought that they had Him bound and they threw a net over Jesus and they dragged Him down to the very pit of hell itself to serve our sentence.” (F.K.C. Price, Ever Increasing Faith Messenger, Newsletter Crenshaw Christian Centre, Inglewood, CA. June 1980, p.7.)

How does Price also describe something the bible does not? The devil drag Him into the depths of hell! Satan doesn't run Hell. He hasn't even been there, and He has every intention of never being there. Neither will he have the ability to torture lost souls in Hell, because He (they) will themselves be tortured.

It becomes clear that the faith teaching states there would have been no price paid for sin if Jesus had finished his work on the cross and went to Paradise.

Charles Capp's says “ If there's any part of hell Jesus did not suffer, you'll have to suffer it. But, thank God, Jesus suffered it all, for you! In the place of the wicked dead, all the demons of hell and Satan rejoiced over the prize. The corridors of hell were filled with joy. 'We've done it! We've captured the Son of God! We'll no longer be in the pit of the damned! The earth and all that is therein is ours! Forever it will be ours!' Rejoicing in hell had never been so great as it was that day. But it was short-lived.” (Authority in Three Worlds, 143 )

The word/faith teachers deny What Jesus told the apostles “This is My blood...which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Mt. 26:28).

If Jesus was not victorious on the Cross, then he wasn't victorious AT ALL!

Did Jesus enter Hell or Hades?

Matthew 12:40, “...so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” The use of this word heart meant the interior of a thing or of being in it. Here it is referring to the tomb he was in. Yet he did continue to exist as a Spirit (who is God in his nature).

Because they do not believe he was God in the flesh, but a man empowered by the spirit they can come to the erroneous conclusion that he was tortured in Spirit (if you think this is not so. Go to quotes on this teaching)

When Jesus used Jonah as an example it was to point to a location, and the manner of death not to punishment.

Kenneth Copeland states this as Bible when he says, “For three days He suffered everything there is to suffer. Some people don't want to believe that. They want to believe that after His death, Jesus just stayed in that upper region of Sheol that the Bible calls paradise, but they're mistaken! If He had simply stayed there, there would have been no price paid for sin.” (Believer's Voice of Victory, Vol. 19, No. 9, Sept. 1991)

Cerflo Dollar echoes his mentor saying, “So now Jesus entered in legally into hell. But He was there illegally. Because once you get to hell there’s got to be some record of your sin. Now He had to stay there 3 days and 3 nights. You better hope He went to hell because if He didn’t go you and I would have to. You better hope He became every sickness, disease and depression and every piece of mess in the world because whatever He didn’t become you and I would have to become ”(Our Equality with God Through Righteousness 1/21/2001).

Copeland again states “I can't understand Christians that refuse to believe that Jesus went to hell. I want to tell you something if he didn't go, you're going to have to.” (The Christian Channel Europe “(Believer's Voice of Victory” May 1998)

No, the point is that He shed his blood on the cross so you would not have to. To put him in the exact place we end up (as sinners) as an equalizer is wrong, dead wrong! He was speaking of the work the Father had given him to do. Then Jesus' statement "it is finished on the cross" was a lie for it was not finished yet, then Eph. 2:16 is false, “that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross” is not possible. It should read through suffering 3 days and nights in Hell!

Joyce Meyers echoes Copeland showing the ties she has with his heresy and this movement.

“There is no hope of anyone going to heaven unless they believe this truth I am presenting. You cannot go to heaven unless you believe with all your heart that Jesus took your place in hell” (In her 1991 booklet, The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make).

She explains Christ’s atonement: “During that time He entered hell, where you and I deserved to go (legally) because of our sin. He paid the price there ... no plan was too extreme ... Jesus paid on the cross and in hell” (The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make 1991 p. 35,). “He went to hell to pay the debt you owed. (p.41 first edition)

“His spirit went to hell because that is where we deserved to go.” (The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make 1991, p.36.).

The Bible- I Peter 3:18, He writes “ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being “Put to death in the flesh, but quickened (made alive) This does not mean that He died spiritually and now he is spiritually resurrected, or by the Spirit. It means he died in the body, he was “Put to death in the flesh” not the Spirit. The spirit of Christ did not die, his flesh did. He continued his life existing in the spirit.

Christ died in body only and continued too exist in Spirit as he was before he came to earth. He was put to death in the sphere of the humanity but continued to be alive in the sphere of the Spirit. So his existence in his earthly life ended but continues He continued his life existing in the spirit inside the earth.

I Peter 3:18 states, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened (made alive) by the Spirit.” This does not mean that He died spiritually and then was spiritually resurrected by the Spirit. It means He died in the body, He was “put to death in the flesh,” not the spirit. The spirit of Christ did not die; His flesh did. He continued his life, existing in the spirit. Christ died in body only and continued to exist in spirit, just as He did before he came to earth. He was put to death in the sphere of the flesh but continued to be alive in the sphere of the spirit. So His existence in his earthly life ended but he continued his life existing in the spirit inside the earth before he resurrected.

V. 19-20: “By whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.” The spirits He went to preach to were those from the time of the flood; the word for “preach” is in Gr. Kerysso, meaning to proclaim or announce (judgment). This is different than to evangelize and proclaim the good news of reconciliation for salvation, which is used in 1 Peter 4:6. This proclamation is directed to either the fallen angels or the human souls that died in the flood (Jude 6; 2 Peter 2:4). Probably having to do with announcing that their judgment is imminent, as he had just come from the victory on the cross. Col. 2:15, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them in it.” When? On the cross (v.14), this could never have occurred if Christ was suffering in Hell, as they claim.

The Bible-Acts 2:27, “For you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption.”

Christ experienced no suffering from others, since that would be corruption. Peter repeats himself just a few verses later in Acts 2:31: “His soul was not left in Hell (Hades), nor did his flesh did see corruption.” Notice it says neither soul nor body saw corruption. Certainly to say that he became sin and was tortured as any other sinner would mean He did see corruption. The verse quoted by Peter is Psalm 16:10. The King James Version uses the word hell; a more accurate translation would be Sheol in Hebrew, which encompasses both Abraham’s bosom and hell. Sheol is used 65 times in the Old Testament; rarely is it used to denote a place of torment. The customary meaning is realm of the dead, meaning the state of death or the grave (Gen. 37:35; 1 Sam. 2:6; Psalm 141:7). In New Testament Greek the equivalent for Hades is often interpreted as the realm of the dead. We find in Luke 16:23,25 that Hades can mean a place of torment, though it may equally be described as a place of rest, in Abraham’s bosom, depending on which side you are on. The context should bear it out.

Jesus never suffered in hell under the torments of Satan. In fact, He told the thief on the cross that he would be with Him in paradise that very day (Luke 23:43). If the atonement had not been completed on the cross, He could never have said that the thief would be in paradise with Him. The thief would have then entered suffering with Jesus.

There is no salvation apart from His blood sacrifice; without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. Hebrews 10:29: “Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? The Bible teaches that our redemption comes “through the blood of the cross” nothing else (Ephesians 1:7; Col. 1:14, 20).

His victory in HELL

After the three days of a mockery and the torture Charles Capps writes “When Jesus was in the pit of hell. in that terrible torment, no doubt the Devil and his emissaries gathered around to see the annihilation of God's Son. But in the corridors of hell, there came a great voice from heaven: 'Turn Him Loose! He's there illegally!' And all of hell became paralyzed.” (Authority in Three Worlds, 143 )

“Why did He (Jesus) need to be begotten, or born? Because He became like we were: separated from God. Because He tasted spiritual death for every man....Jesus was the first person that was ever born again.” (K. Hagin, How Jesus Obtained His Name, Tulsa: Rhema, audiotape #44H01)

Contrary to his human reasoning the meaning is the firstborn from death unto eternal life. It has to do with physical body not the Spirit.

Hinn teaches Christ's “rebirth” in hell: “My, you know, whoosh! The Holy Ghost is just showing me some stuff. I’m getting dizzy! I’m telling you the truth-it’s, it’s just heavy right now on me…He’s [referring to Jesus] in the underworld now. God isn’t there, the Holy Ghost isn’t there, and the Bible says He was begotten. Do you know what the word begotten means? It means reborn. Do you want another shocker? Have you been begotten? So was He. Don’t let anyone deceive you. Jesus was reborn. You say, ‘What are you talking about?’…He was reborn. He had to be reborn…If He was not reborn, I could not be reborn, I would never be reborn. How can I face Jesus and say, “Jesus, You went through everything I’ve gone through, except the new birth?” (Benny Hinn, Our Position ‘In Christ,’ Part 1 (Orlando, FL: Orlando Christian Center, 1991), videotape #TV-254)

Consider the concept “If He was not reborn, I could not be reborn.” According to the Scripture Christ was not reborn so that means you were not either! [To be reborn means one needs a new nature because they are a sinner.]

Copeland states “Jesus was reborn in the pits of hell.” (What Happened From the Cross to the Throne)”He was the first man to ever be born again from sin to the righteousness of God. Hallelujah !!! (9/24/97 video)

“The day I realized that a born-again man had defeated Satan, hell, and death, I got so excited..!” September, 1991, Believer's Voice of Victory)

“God rose up from His throne and said to demon powers tormenting the sinless Son of God, ‘Let Him go.’ Then the resurrection power of Almighty God went through hell and filled Jesus ... He was resurrected from the dead - the first born-again man” (The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make, pg. 36, 1991 booklet)

Contrary to their imaginations he did not become born again in Hell only those who have the nature of sin need a new birth.

Ask yourself What kind of teaching is this that Christ suffered in hell only to be reborn like any other man? No one in Church history had taught such a thing until today's new spiritual revelators came along.

Charles Capp's goes even further, “Jesus was born again in the pit of hell. He was the firstborn, the first begotten, from the dead. He started the Church of the firstborn in the gates of hell... He went down to the gates and started His Church there....The Church started when Jesus was born again in the gates of hell.” (C.Capps, Authority in Three Worlds, op. cit. p.212-213)

The Bible-Acts 2, the Church was born on Pentecost when the Spirit of God was sent to those in the upper room and the gospel was preached at Jerusalem where 3,000 were saved.

Heb.10:29: “Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?”

The Bible teaches that our redemption comes “through the blood of the cross” (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14, 20).

“The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 Jn.1:7). All Sin; which means there was nothing needed to be added. When He said, “it is finished” on the cross, that is exactly what He meant.

We receive this gift is by faith: “It pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe” (I Cor. 1:21). Believe what? The Gospel! It is “the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.” (Rom 1:16). Believe what? I Cor. 15:1-4 that “Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again.” That is it, no more no less.

Where did He die for our sins becomes the crucial question? I ask you, do these teachers present the blood of Christ as the finished atonement for sin or suffering in Hell. If a Bible teacher presents the blood of Christ as not the finished atonement for sin and further suffering is included; whether Gethsamane or Hell is required, this is a false representation of Jesus’ work to atone for sin. This is no different than one mischaracterizing the person of Jesus at the incarnation. It becomes a different Jesus, and a different Gospel -- a Jesus who did not save through the atonement on the cross, and instead redeemed us in Hell! What a terrible distortion of the most important event God did for mankind. Only teachers in biblical ignorance and sinister ministers would promote this “new, improved version” of the New Covenant.

Philippians 3:18: “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ.”

RUN FROM THESE WHO PREACH HERESY.

Brian McLaren Wants End Time Believing Christians Robustly Confronted

2009-11-23T16:31:00.000-05:00

Brian McLaren Wants End Time Believing Christians Robustly Confronted
May 4th, 2009 | Author: Lighthouse Trails Editors

[B]eloved, Inow write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way ofremembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spokenbefore by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostlesof the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come inthe last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? II Peter 3:1-4

If you are a Christian who believes that the Bible is God’s inspiredWord and believe that Jesus Christ will be coming again, you are beingmarginalized. And you might not even know it. It may surprise you toknow where this marginalization is coming from. We’re not speaking ofthe world today . . . we are talking about people who say they are Christians and who happen to be very influential. In fact, one of them, Rick Warren, was just named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the entire world.1

In an April 2009 article in Sojourner’s magazineby emerging church leader, Brian McLaren, McLaren clearly has targetedChristians. But not just any Christians. McLaren is talking aboutChristians who believe Jesus Christ is coming back again, suggestingthat these type of Christians are the reason there is no peace in theMiddle East. He says what these end-time believing Christians are doingis “terrible,” “deadly,” and “distorted.”

McLaren says that he grew up with a dispensational view (the beliefthat Jesus Christ will return and establish his kingdom on earth) buthas come to realize this view is “morally and ethically harmful.” Helikens this belief system to racism in the 50s and 60s and says:

These doctrinal formulations often use a bogusend-of-the-world scenario to create a kind of death-wish for World WarIII, which–unless it is confronted more robustly by the rest ofus–could too easily create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Anyone who is familiar with the writings of occultist Alice Baileyor New Age author and futurist Barbara Marx Hubbard knows that theybelieve this very thing. In fact, McLaren is sounding more and morelike them all the time, and his article in Soujourners is further proof of that.

It isn’t just Bible-believing Christians who McLaren is upset with –he’s also angry about Israel and the very idea that she is a specialnation in the eyes of God. This is why he names Christian Zionists andDispensationalists in particularly, because they tend to be two groupswho hold fast to the belief that Israel is indeed a special nation tothe Lord.

It is ironic that just a week ago, the House of Representatives passed the HR1913 hate crimes bill,which is supposed to deter hateful behavior toward others. Here,McLaren, who was chosen to be an advisor to Obama (a strong proponentof hate crime legislation), is speaking so hatefully about those whohold to biblical beliefs saying they must be robustly confronted by “the rest of us” [all human beings except the biblical ones].

Others have joined McLaren in this effort to silence and marginalizebiblical Christians. Rick Warren’s chief apologist (and we were told astaff member at Saddleback) recently posted an article on the Internetthat said ministries that defend the faith (he referenced LighthouseTrails) were like mentally unstable cultists, “who are not normalpeople, average complainers, critics and typical dissidents who aregenerally unhappy about life itself . . . they are deadly.” (Please contact Saddleback Church to verify this: (949) 609-8000.)

Tony Campolo, in his book Speaking My Mind,says that “‘rigid’ Christians who believe in the possibility of Jesus’soon return” are “the real problem for the whole world.” According toCampolo, they are to blame for wars, and a host of other evils in theworld. This is what Alice Bailey and Barbara Marx Hubbard believe–andtheir obvious hostility towards believers shouts out from the pages oftheir writings.

There are others too who speak in derogatory language aboutChristians who believe Titus 2:13, which is: “Looking for that blessedhope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour JesusChrist.” In Mark Driscoll’s book Vintage Jesus, he ridicules Christians who believe there will be an Armageddon and a rapture (pp. 44, 157).

Perhaps one of the more serious attacks on Christians waiting forChrist’s return (serious primarily because of his huge influence) comesfrom Rick Warren where he states in The Purpose Driven Life thatthose who study Bible prophecy are not fit for the kingdom of God. Mostreaders may have missed this because of the way the passage isorganized, but if one studies this carefully, with a Bible by theirside, it is not difficult to see. Roger Oakland explains:

Warren tells readers to think about something other thanBible prophecy: “If you want Jesus to come back sooner, focus onfulfilling your mission, not figuring out prophecy.”

Warren ends this section of his book by stating that Satan wouldhave you “sidetracked from your mission” and by quoting Jesus out ofcontext, Warren says, “Anyone who lets himself be distracted [bystudying Bible prophecy] from the work I plan for him is not fit forthe kingdom of God” (Living Bible). But Jesus was not referring to His return when He made that statement, which in the King James Versionsays: “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, isfit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). The Purpose Driven kingdom ofGod leaves no room for Bible prophecy, and in fact, condemns those whostudy it. The apostle Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, had adifferent view. He writes: “We have also a more sure word of prophecy;whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth ina dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in yourhearts.” (II Peter 1:19)

Christians are called to witness and be watchmen. No Scriptureexists that tells us to ignore the events that have been pointed out assignposts indicating the return of Jesus. If we do, we might be likethe foolish virgins who fell asleep waiting for the bridegroom (Matthew25:1-13).(from Faith Undone, pp. 154-157)

In Warren Smith’s book, Reinventing Jesus Christ,Smith discusses something Barbara Marx Hubbard calls the SelectionProcess. This is a process that New Agers believe in which Armageddonwill only have to happen if those who believe in it (biblicalChristians) remain on the earth for thus there would be aself-fullfilling prophecy. She believes, as does Alice Bailey (thewoman who coined the term New Age), that the world cannot evolve, andthere cannot be peace until it is rid of these kind of people. If itis, then there can be what is termed an Alternative to Armageddon.Sound far-fetched? Just keep in mind that Barbara Marx Hubbard is arespected author–in fact, she was instrumental in the early stages ofwhat is now the lobbying group for the soon-to-be Department of Peace that over 60 Congressmen are supporting.

We believe that this effort to put labels like cultist on believerswill only grow. Another example is emerging church writer ThomasHohstadt, who asked in a recent article: How Do We Know We Are Not in a Cult?He answered this question by basically saying that you are a cult ifyou believe you have all the answers and if you believe truth can becontained or absolutely defined. You see, in emerging spiritualitydoubt and uncertainty are exhalted, and the opposite“virtues,”–certainty and faith–are condemned. Incredible as it seems,those who stand on the Word of God will, in the end, be called evil,deadly, and cultish.

The growing hostility against Bible-believing Christians continues.And yet, in Matthew 24:6, Jesus comforts us with these words: “[S]eethat ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, butthe end is not yet.” Let us remember and take heed to the words Jesustold his disciples: “I must work the works of him that sent me, whileit is day: the night cometh, when no man can work” (John 9:4). Asbelievers we will stand for the truth, but we will continue to lovethose who persecute. We are inspired by the many saints who have gonebefore and courageously, by His grace and strength, stood. “Therefore,brethren, stand fast.” (II Thessalonians 2:15)

Pastor Billy Joe Daugherty passed away Sunday morning.

2009-11-22T16:52:00.000-05:00

TULSA, OK -- Victory Christian Pastor Billy Joe Daugherty passed away Sunday morning. Church pastors announced at early morning services that Daugherty died at 4:40 a.m.

The founder of Victory Christian Church, Pastor Billy Joe Daugherty's battle with cancer took a turn for the worse on Friday as he fought an infection at Houston's M.D. Anderson Hospital.

Daugherty is survived by his wife, Sharon, and four children: John, Paul, Sarah, and Ruthie. His two son-in-laws are also active in the congregation.

Daugherty was 57.

Victory Christian has 17,000 members, making it one of Green Country's largest churches. Daugherty also founded Victory Christian School and the Victory Bible Institute.

"We're going to give thanks. We're going to celebrate his life, and then as a church we're going to pick up the baton and run the race," Pastor Bruce Edwards told the congregation Sunday morning.

"I can tell you, his prayer is for us to move forward with the vision," Edwards said of Daugherty.

Services are planned for Monday, November 30 at the Mabee Center. More information will be announced.

The family is returning to Tulsa today, congregation members were told at Sunday's 11 a.m. service. They ask that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Victory Christian Church to help carry on Pastor Daugherty's work.

From Outlaw Canyon in Wyoming

2009-11-07T18:54:00.000-05:00

The Rapture Of The Church.

2009-10-13T14:42:00.002-04:00

In 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 from the Expositors Study Bible KJV, we read:V15 FOR THIS WE SAY UNTO YOU BY THE WORD OF THE LORD (presents the Doctrine of the Rapture of the Church as the "Word of the Lord), THAT WE WHICH ARE ALIVE AND REMAIN UNTO THE COMING OF THE LORD (all Believers who are alive at the Rapture) SHALL NOT PREVENT THEM WHICH ARE ASLEEP. (This refers to the fact that the living Saints will not precede or go before the dead Saints). V16 FOR THE LORD HIMSELF SHALL DESCEND FROM HEAVEN WITH A SHOUT (refers to "the same Jesus" which the Angels proclaimed in Acts 1:11), WITH THE VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL (refers to Michael, the only one referred to as such{Jude v 9}), AND WITH THE TRUMP OF GOD (doesn't exactly say God will personally blow this Trumpet, but that it definitely does belong to Him, whoever does signal the blast): AND THE DEAD IN CHRIST SHALL RISE FIRST ( the criteria for being ready for the Rapture is to be "in Christ", which means that all who are truly Born-again will definitely go in the Rapture): V17 THEN WE WHICH ARE ALIVE AND REMAIN SHALL BE CAUGHT UP (Raptured) TOGETHER WITH THEM (the Resurrected dead) IN THE CLOUDS (clouds of Saints, not clouds as we normally think of such), TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR ( the Greek word for "air" is "aer", and refers to the lower atmosphere, or from about 6,000 feet down; so, the Lord will come at least within 6,000 feet of the Earth, perhaps even lower, with all the Saints meeting Him there; but He, at that time, will not come all the way to the Earth, that awaiting the Second Coming, which will be seven or more years later): AND SO SHALL WE EVER BE WITH THE LORD. ( This presents the greatest meeting humanity will have ever known.)

This glorious event called the Rapture could take place at any moment. It is the next great event on the horizon of time. The literal Greek phrase calls for us to be snatched away. This is where we derive our word, Rapture.
Jesus Said in Matthew 24:36 that no one knows the day or the hour. Only the Father Knows. We should resist any temptation to engage in date setting. What we do know is that while there are no specific "Rapture" signs that need to be fulfilled; many of the signs that point to the second coming are being fulfilled at breathtaking rapidity: so how much closer is the Rapture to taking place. The Rapture will take place very soon, at some point prior to the inception of the Great Tribulation.

Christ's own words are the reason for this view. Jesus warned us to be alert for His imminent return (Matthew 24:42,44), and a pre- tribulational Rapture is the only position that allows for His at-any-moment arrival.
The Second Comin, then, is best thought of as a separate event, when our Lord returns following the 7 year Great Tribulation to defeat His enemies. At that time, Satan will be bound and remain so during Christ's 1,000 year millennial reign.
At the Rapture, the Lord comes for His People; at the Second Coming, He comes with His People.
After the 1,000 year millennial reign, the Lord will conduct the Great White Throne Judgment in which unbelievers of all time will be judged and cast into a place called the lake of fire, eternally separated from a loving, living, Holy, and just God.
Believers, however, will enjoy eternity in the presence of God, beginning at the Rapture.

Here are some vital distinctions between the Rapture and the Second Coming.
1- The Rapture takes place before the Tribulation (1 Thess. 4:16-17) but the Second coming takes place at the end of this period. (Matt. 24:29-31)
2- At the Rapture, all believers on Earth will be taken to Heaven, but at the Second Coming, God will bring us back to this Earth.
3- The timing of the Rapture is completely unknown (Matt. 24:36-41), but the Second Coming will be marked by several predicted signs. (Matt. 24:29-30)
4- The description of the Rapture makes no mention of Satan, but he will be bound and cast into the lake of fire at the Second Coming. (Rev 20:2,10)

As we live in these exciting times, we must focus our attention on Jesus Christ and anticipate His return. We must be faithful disciples, making soul-winning a active and vital part of our lives. We have a message that others need to hear. We must share it while there is still time. That message is Christ and Him Crucified.

Scripture assures us that Jesus will come for His Children personally. In John 14:3, the Lord promised that He was going to prepare a place for us. When the time comes, He will return for us to take us there. Let us be busy about our Fathers business and take as many with us as possible. God Bless.

Freedom Watch

2009-10-12T14:56:00.000-04:00

Freedom Watch

America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, is all about religious freedom. Yet, in the name of separation of church and state, religious groups have often had to battle for equal access to public facilities or the freedom to teach the Bible. Even then, simple letters can usually clear up situations in which Christians face discrimination.

Santa Rosa County, Florida:
The ACLU filed a lawsuit against Florida’s Santa Rosa County School District last year and, in response, the school district agreed to a consent order that ended with the banning of religious activities at county schools. As a result, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes was prevented from renting school facilities at Jay High School and teachers were forbidden to attend baccalaureate services.

When contacted about the issue, the Alliance Defense Fund wrote a letter to inform the school district that these prohibitions were unconstitutional. The school district then reversed its policies and allowed the Christian athlete group to meet on school property and renewed teachers’ freedom to attend private baccalaureate services on their own time.

San Diego County, California:
A pastor and his wife were cited and their home Bible study in Bonita, CA was shut down, making national news. On April 11, David and Mary Jones were told they had to get a permit in order to hold the home studies, in which between five and 27 people gathered each week.

“She asked me if we sang songs, said Amen, praised the Lord or not. I don’t even think I answered because I was so taken aback” said Mary Jones, whose home had been used for the Bible study for five years.

When the event made the news, the county at first explained that the whole thing was about parking. One of the neighbors had apparently complained about inconveniently parked cars. Last week San Diego County finally made an official apology to the couple. The county’s chief administrative officer Walter Ekard wrote a letter on Wednesday, June 3 to say that the citation should never have been written and the Jones family was not required to get a permit.

Tulsa, Oklahoma:
For two decades, Child Evangelism Fellowship has put on a Bible-based summer vacation program for kids in Tulsa’s inner city projects. The fellowship’s goal is to help these high-risk kids stay out of drugs and crime through fun activities and messages that also teach them about God. A non-profit group that administers recreational programs for the Tulsa Housing Authority, Youth At Heart, recently told Child Evangelism Fellowship that they could not run programs that spoke about God or Jesus. Youth at Heart informed the Christian group that religious instruction was not permitted on public housing property. They said the policy had been in place for a long time, but just had not been enforced.

Mathew Staver of the Liberty Counsel commented, “There is a mistaken notion if you allow equal access to a religious group, you’re violating the Constitution.” So far the housing authority has declined to comment, but a 2001 US Supreme Court ruling makes the case clear; religious groups have the same rights to access public facilities or property as any other group.

Larry Koehn, head of Child Evangelism Fellowship in Tulsa, is not very worried. “Last fall, one of our schools said we couldn’t hold a club after school for the same reasons,” he said. “I contacted the Liberty Counsel and they wrote a letter to the school board explaining equal access, and they let us in.”

Religious discrimination continues to take place in America, but Americans have a number of legal groups ready to assist them when problems and confusions sprout up. Those who experience daily religious freedom around the world should praise God for the liberty they enjoy. It is a precious gift that should never be taken lightly.

THE CROSS AND THE HOLY SPIRIT part 3

2009-10-06T12:52:00.001-04:00

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How the Holy Spirit Works in the life of a Believer.

Justification by Faith part 1

2009-08-18T12:33:00.001-04:00

Justification by Faith part 2

2009-08-18T12:32:00.001-04:00

Justification by Faith part 3

2009-08-18T12:30:00.000-04:00

Justification by Faith part 4

2009-08-18T12:29:00.000-04:00

Justification by Faith part 5

2009-08-18T12:27:00.000-04:00

ROMANS 8 Part 6

2009-07-25T09:55:00.001-04:00

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To view this entire series on Romans Chapter 8; please go to www.acts2618.com. You may also download some of the telecast on itunes at The Len Paxton Teaching Series.

ROMANS 8 PART 2

2009-07-20T15:15:00.001-04:00

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To view entire series go to www.acts2618.com

THE MYSTERY OF REINCARNATION

2009-07-14T09:18:00.001-04:00

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Another New Age lie

SOME REASONS FOR THE LAW

2009-07-12T15:26:00.001-04:00

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To view more programming on this interesting subject go to www.acts2618.com

PROCLAMATIONS FROM THE WORD OF GOD

2009-07-12T14:41:00.001-04:00

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There is power in proclaiming God's Word over your life.

BIRTH REVIVAL WITH PRAYER

2009-07-10T21:14:00.001-04:00

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The importance of prayer in the bringing of revival.

The Joys Of Forgiveness

2009-07-10T15:51:00.001-04:00

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The Theme of this program is Forgiveness.

EVANGELICAL CONFUSION

2009-07-10T15:26:00.001-04:00

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We must stand with Israel.

San Diego County Formally Apologizes to Local Pastor

2009-06-08T14:23:00.001-04:00

San Diego County Formally Apologizes to Local Pastor
Posted on June 8, 2009 by revlenpaxton

San Diego County Formally Apologizes to Local Pastor

The Christian Post reports that San Diego county officials have issued a formal apology to a pastor who was told he couldn’t hold Bible studies in his home without a permit. County Chief Administrative Officer Walt Ekard sent the letter to Pastor David Jones on Wednesday, fulfilling Jones’s demand for the rescinded decision in writing. “Christians should not be punished simply for holding a Bible study in their home, so we are very encouraged by the county’s response and their commitment to immediate corrective action,” said Dean Broyles, president of the Western Center for Law & Policy and Jones’ attorney. The county offices were reportedly flooded with complaints when several media outlets printed the story in April.

URGENT TROUBLE FOR AMERICA

2009-06-01T21:12:00.000-04:00

Pastor Cited for Holding Home Bible Study Without Permit

Christian Post reports that a California pastor and his wife face legal action from San Diego County for holding a weekly Bible study at their home. Officials informed the couple on Good Friday that the meeting constitutes a “religious assembly” and requires an expensive permit. Pastor David Jones and his wife Mary say the “assembly” is simply dinner, fellowship and Bible study in their home. The Joneses and their attorney argue that forcing them to get a permit is unconstitutional under the First Amendment. “The implications are great because it’s not only us that’s involved,” Mary Jones told Fox News. “There are thousands and thousands of Bible studies that are held all across the country. What we’re interested in is setting a precedent here — before it goes any further — and that we have it settled for the future.”
EVERY CHRISTIAN WITH A BACKBONE OUGHT TO START HOLDING BIBLE STUDIES IN THEIR HOUSE... THE GOVERNMENT HAS NO RIGHT TO TELL US WHAT WE CAN DO IN OUR HOMES......
WE MUST RISE UP AND LET OUR VOICE BE HEARD AND PUT A STOP TO THIS KIND OF ATTACK ON OUR FAITH.
Len Paxton

Len's You Tube Channel

2009-06-01T18:47:00.001-04:00

End Time Tolerance

2009-05-30T21:40:00.000-04:00

Seven Major Prophetic Signs Of The Second Coming

2009-05-16T10:44:00.001-04:00

Seven Major Prophetic Signs Of The Second Coming

8th Annual Update January 2009 by Jack Kelly
There are seven major prophetic signs of the Second Coming, and for the first time in history all seven are in some stage of fulfillment. As in years past, I’ll list the seven with their primary biblical references and offer commentary from current events.

1. Israel Will Be In The Land… Ezekiel 36:24, 37:21

For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land .

This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.

In 1948, when Israel took its place among the nations of the world again for the first time in nearly 2000 years, students of prophecy recognized the fulfillment of the primary sign that the end of the age was upon us. Both Isaiah 11:11-12 and Amos 9:14-15 had also clearly foretold this. Jesus said that some from the generation being born when this happened would still be alive when He returned (Matt. 24:34).

The fulfillment of this prophecy caused another reaction as well. Satan reads prophecy too, and began exerting his influence on world leaders in his continuing effort to thwart the plan of God. As a result, Israel has fought six major wars in the last 60 years, each of them an attempt to erase the Jewish Homeland from the face of the Earth. And it’s clear that this effort will continue, with the biggest battle of all looming on the horizon, foretold by Ezekiel in chapters 38-39. Israel’s enemies, both physical and spiritual, won’t let up until they’ve either succeeded (their view) or been destroyed (God’s view).

For try as these nations might to destroy Israel, God sees a different outcome.

In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. (Isaiah 11:11-12)

“I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God. (Amos 9:14-15)

2. Jerusalem Will Be In Jewish Hands… Luke 21:24

They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The Lord prophesied that the reunification of Jerusalem as a Jewish City would be a sign that foreign (gentile) influence over His land, and indeed the world, was about to end. Fulfillment of this prophecy began in 1967, and prophecy experts saw it as another major sign that the End of the Age had begun. The almost world wide effort to take the city apart again is in essence a battle of wills; the Will of God vs. the will of man. Until recently every Israeli politician has stood firmly on a pledge to keep Jerusalem united forever as Israel’s capital.

But then former Prime Minister Sharon said that if re-elected he’d consider abandoning parts of the suburbs to achieve peace. A stroke-induced coma from which he has never recovered ended his political career, but his hand picked successor, Ehud Olmert, hinted at following through on Sharon’s proposals. Olmert’s poor performance in the war against Hezbollah in 2006 and the corruption charges against him have driven him from office and robbed him of the political strength to follow through.

I’ve come to believe that Jerusalem won’t really be free of Gentile “trampling” until the Lord returns. Daniel’s prophecy that Gentile Dominion would not end until the Lord establishes His kingdom (Daniel 2:36-45), Zechariahs’ prophecy of the city being captured just before the Lord’s return (Zech. 14:2), and John’s observations in Rev. 11:1-2 of the gentiles trampling the outer court of the Temple during the Great Tribulation all confirm this.

The ongoing fulfillment of these major prophecies concerning Israel has caused confusion in the minds of some commentators. It centers around an incorrect interpretation of Matt. 24:34, that all end times prophecies would be fulfilled within a generation, nominally 40 years, of Israel’s re-gathering in 1948. That error made 1988 seem like the likely time for the End. But when 1988 came and went scholars focused on the Jerusalem date, 1967, and began adding 40 years to that, advancing their predictions to 2007. The rationale for this is that the timing of the First Coming prophecies in Daniel 9:24-27 keyed off the rebuilt city, not off the return to the Land. but that date proved wrong as well.

Problem is, the Lord didn’t promise that all end times prophecies would be fulfilled within a generation of their beginning, only that the generation being born at the time of the first of the signs would still be alive to see their completion. According to Psalm 90:10 an average Biblical life span is 70 years, so predicting the approximate time of the End requires the addition of 70 years to 1948, not 40.

As it draws nearer, the approximate timing of the 2nd Coming will become more and more obvious. Those people around when a treaty is enforced permitting the Jews to build their Temple in Israel will know that it’s about seven years away. (Daniel 9:27) Those who witness the anti Christ standing in that Temple proclaiming himself to be God will know there are only 1260 days left until the end of the Great Tribulation, and the 2nd Coming happens shortly after that. (Matt. 24:15,21 & 2 Thes. 2:4) But even so, the Lord did state quite clearly that those alive on Earth at the end of the Great Tribulation would not know the exact day or hour of His coming until He actually appeared. (Matt. 24:42 & 44, 25:13)

3. A Moslem Coalition Armed And Led By Russia Will Attack The Holy Land… Ezek. 38:2-6

“Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army–your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops–the many nations with you.”

(For a more detailed explanation of the modern equivalents to these biblical names, read “An In Depth Look At The Modern Equivalent To Biblical Names in Ezek.38)

Over 130 historical references make it plain that Magog stands for modern Russia, and the other countries named here form a coalition based on their common religion, Islam. (Today Russia is 30% Moslem and growing.) Among them are Iran, several North African countries, Eastern European countries along the Danube, and the Turkic nations of Asia Minor. A quick look at a world map will reveal that these areas are home to some of the most radical Islamic groups.

The Russians are already a major supplier of arms for the Moslem coalition, just as Ezekiel prophesied, and will be drawn into joining in this battle by God Himself. Russia’s barely disguised policy of becoming the major outside force in the Middle East is playing right into the Lord’s hands. Iran and Russia are well into the implementation of a $50 billion deal to provide Iran with nuclear power. The 10 reactors called for in the deal are supposedly for electrical power generation, but most western leaders suspect they’ll be used to build bombs, too. Some experts claim that Iran will become a nuclear power this year, but others think a bomb is still a ways off. Israel has again vowed to prevent that ever happening, but don’t be surprised if the US continues to back away from its similar promise.

Russia has also formed commercial and military alliances with Turkey and Syria, and has become Turkey’s 2nd largest trading partner after Germany. Russia has also sold Damascus a state of the art anti-air defense system along with their latest generation missiles and anti-tank rockets and plan to construct a major military seaport in northern Syria, moving components of their Black Sea fleet there. In Lebanon, Russian Military Intelligence has just about taken over the town of Sidon, spying on Israel for Iran and Syria. Iran has taken delivery of a Russian air defense system too, to protect its Bushier reactor site, first it the series Russia has promised to build.

Iran seems to be preparing its people for war with Israel, making the most outlandish claims in an effort to whip their people into a frenzy not seen since the days of the US embassy kidnapping of the 70’s. This inflammatory ranting has included a Holocaust denial seminar attended by 30 countries, and a promise to wipe Israel off the face of the map. Former and likely future Israeli PM Netanyahu has said that for the Jews it’s like 1938 all over again.

The major obstacle to an early fulfillment of this prophecy is the reference to its occurrence at a time when Israel is “a peaceful and unsuspecting people” (Ezekiel 38:11). This certainly is not the case today, but In Psalm 83 there’s a yet-to-be-fulfilled prophecy that appears to involve all of Israel’s next door neighbors in another unsuccessful attempt to wipe the Jewish nation off the map. The psalmist pleads with the Lord to intervene and defeat Israel’s attackers. If this happens, it explains why none of them are named in Ezekiel’s list of antagonists, and how Israel could be living in a perceived state of safety as Ezekiel 38:11 requires. Many of us have been watching to see if the recent Gaza incursion would escalate into a fulfillment of that prophecy, and though it hasn’t yet, it still could.

Two other pre-requisites for Ezekiel’s battle are also in the process of fulfillment. The Gaza war may have strained Israel’s relationship with Turkey to the breaking point, and as I’ve shown Turkey will be on the Moslem side in Ezekiel’s battle. Public support in Turkey for membership in the EU is also declining, another sign that attitudes toward the West are changing. It won’t take much more for Turkey to switch sides. And Israel’s recent natural gas discovery, said to be of “historic” proportions, could create the wealth necessary to make Israel an attractive target for Russian conquest, fulfilling the prophecy of Ezekiel 38:13 that Israel’s enemies will have attacked partly for plunder. Till now Israel really hasn’t had any substantial wealth, but the natural gas discovery is worth billions.

I believe that the removal of the US as Israel’s powerful ally is also necessary to pave the way for Ezekiel’s battle, because I don’t think the Moslem coalition will attack until they’re sure the US won’t retaliate. Any one of several scenarios currently being played out could accomplish this. Our national policy could change. A deepening recession could force us to turn inward and render us unwilling to keep our promise to support Israel. Likewise, the threat or actual occurrence of a major terrorist attack could cause us to stand down. And the Rapture of the Church could deprive the US of both the leadership and manpower to respond. It’s no where near as difficult to see the US abandoning its commitment to Israel as it was just a few years ago.

When the time is right, having recently taken His church to Heaven, the Lord will use this battle to orchestrate His reconciliation with Israel, and on its heels the anti Christ will emerge with a peace plan that includes a Jewish Temple. So once this battle takes place, end times prophecy will go on fast forward.

4. The Ancient Roman Empire Will Re-Emerge As A Political Force… Rev 17:9-10

“This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while.” (This one is a little obscure if you don’t know your history. When John was writing this, about 95AD, there had been five great world powers; Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece. All were conquered and absorbed. The current power was Rome, which was never really conquered and will re-emerge at the end of the age, according to Daniel 9:26.)

Daniel 2:36-45 describes Gentile Dominion from Daniel’s time forward (Egypt and Assyria had already fallen) in the form of a giant statue representing the four remaining Kingdoms, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and the two appearances of Rome. Read it carefully and you’ll find some interesting things in the description of the two feet upon which the statue stands. They’re made of iron mixed with clay. In the first place the two don’t mix. We can imagine sticky clay serving as glue sticking pieces of iron together, but the language describes a clay that’s made of dust and already baked … hard and brittle like shards of pottery. You can’t make random pieces of iron and pottery adhere.

These two feet describe the two divisions of the Roman Empire, Western and Eastern. Today the territory of the Western division is occupied by Europe, while the Eastern territoty holds the Islamic countries of the Middle East. Some experts insist that the combined defeats spoken of in Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38-39 will render the Eastern leg, or Moslem world, incapable of becoming part of the World Empire of the End Times, but Daniel had both feet in view in chapter 2 so both divisions of the Roman Empire have to be present at the End of the Age. His use of iron and pottery in their makeup speaks to the difficulty the Western and Eastern cultures will have in remaining united. And the fact that Daniel only identified four empires means the last one can only be some form of ancient Rome.

5. The World Will Embrace A Single Religion… Rev 13:8

All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast–all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.

Make no mistake about it. Islam is the major religious force in the world today and their goal is nothing less than world domination, by any means necessary. It’s the world’s fastest growing religion and is second only to Christianity in number of adherents. Already nearly one out of every five inhabitants of the world is Moslem, and like most Christians and Jews they don’t really know what they believe or why. I’m no prophet, but as I look into the future, it’s much easier for me to see Islam riding its current wave of momentum to fill the void left by the departure of the Church than it is to imagine some watered down mix of Christianity and New Age Mysticism doing so.

Much has been written recently about al Mahdi, a figure out of Moslem prophecies that are strikingly similar to Christian prophecies of the anti-Christ. Both show a leader coming on the scene during a time of great turmoil on Earth. Both depict him as man of peace who will have a seven year reign, head up a one world religion and one world government, and claim supernatural origins. Both prophecies culminate in a battle between good and evil that brings about Earth’s final judgment. It’s as they’re pointing to the same person. The difference is that in Islam he’s a good guy, but the Bible calls him evil.

Take this charismatic political and religious leader with his supernatural power, add the widely held but incorrect belief that God and Allah are the same, and that Islam is a religion of peace, and then subtract the spirit of discernment found in the Church and you can see how he could be the straw that a world on the brink of disaster grasps for survival.

6. The World Will Accept A Single Government… Rev 13:3

The whole world was astonished and followed the beast.

Recent events in the US have shown how quickly a fearful and disillusioned people will get behind someone who promises to change things. When you look at the shape of the world it doesn’t take much to imagine circumstances getting to a point where the whole world will agree to follow a leader who will promise to bring order out of chaos. With all the things that already threaten world stability getting worse by the day, how much more frantic will people be after millions of their neighbors suddenly disappear without warning or explanation, and there’s been a nuclear exchange that brings destruction from Europe through the Middle East and into Russia?

7. Babylon Will Re-Emerge As A Prominent City In World Affairs… Rev 18:2-3

With a mighty voice he shouted: “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”

Babylon is still a ways away from accepting its destiny as a city of power in the end times. It’s just a ceremonial city right now, but 20 years ago nobody even knew it existed at all. One of the shocks of Gulf War 1 was the discovery of Babylon standing there on the banks of the Euphrates again.

You may think that being little more than a giant museum is a far cry from being a center of world power, but not too long ago, some of Iraq’s new political leaders were calling for their nation’s capital to be moved to Babylon. The logic behind this is that Baghdad was Saddam’s capital, and the new Iraq needs a new capital, more consistent with its heritage. Babylon fills the bill, and becoming the capital of Iraq would be a giant first step toward achieving its transformation into a center of power. Onenewsnow.com recently reported that the US has pledged $700K to help rebuild the ancient city.

Because of Babylon’s current lack of importance in the world, some students of prophecy search for an allegorical fulfillment of its destruction in Rev. 18, and of course many see the USA or some city therein as a logical candidate.

But remember, even though in Revelation 17:9 John describes “mystery Babylon” as seated on seven hills (meaning Rome), a prophecy in Zechariah 5:5-11 shows it being moved “to the plains of Shinar” a reference to ancient Mesopotamia called Iraq today. We can’t switch from literal to allegorical interpretations of Scripture without clear direction, and where Babylon is concerned no such direction exists. In fact the opposite is true.

Other Signs

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matt. 24:6-14)

Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. (Luke 21:10-11)

“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:25-28)

WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS … According to intelligence reports that include all our wars as well as conflicts where a cease fire exists but are still unresolved, 41 wars are currently being fought around the world, with a substantial number of additional disputes threatening to erupt into war at any time.

THE INCREASE OF NATURAL DISASTERS … More frequent and more severe hurricanes, more frequent and more intense earthquakes. Killer storms and quakes continue to dot the news.

SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON, AND STARS … The Magnetic Polar Reversal, predicted by computer model for 2012 is gaining more attention since its likelihood was first announced. While the effects of a Magnetic Polar Reversal have never been observed by mankind, it has apparently happened in the distant past. What’s unique this time is that the Sun is due for a polar reversal at the same time. What this means is that while the Sun will be experiencing its most intense radioactive storms, Earth’s magnetic field (that protect us from these Sun storms) will be at its weakest and may even be non-existent in some parts of the world. I’ve speculated that the effects of the polar reversal could fulfill the 6th Seal judgment of Revelation 6 and if the projected time of 2012 is correct, it fits into the early stages of Daniel’s 70th Week that I believe will begin sometime in 2011.

PESTILENCE… Not only new diseases like HIV and SARS, but also the return of old ones like Whooping cough. But the big news is still the likely spread of Avian Influenza (Bird Flu). A few cases among humans have lead to fears that the virus has mutated to thrive in a human host. Dire predictions are placing possible deaths from this pandemic in the millions

THE LOVE OF MOST WILL GROW COLD … 3500 people die every day in defense of the Christian faith. Run away crime, children being abused and murdered by their parents, children killing children. Murder trials as public entertainment soon to be followed by televised executions. Ethnic cleansing, rape and forced pregnancy, pedophilia, random shootings, the incidence of disrespect is enough to make you sick.

THIS GOSPEL WILL BE PREACHED IN ALL NATIONS … Looking at the state of the world, it’s hard to be encouraged. But as world news gets worse and worse, more people are turning to the Lord for solace. According to some reports as many as 175,000 new believers are born again every day, mostly in Africa, China, and India. Reports of these conversions are accompanied by accounts of miracles, people receiving supernatural healings and even being raised from the dead. Just as He did at the beginning of the church Age the Holy Spirit is moving mightily at its End. I believe the Lord is issuing a giant “last call” before He suddenly takes the church out of here to begin the End Times judgments.

The above are given as indicators in the Olivet Discourse (Matt 24, Mark 13, Luke 21) and we’ll continue to bring you periodic information on these as well.

As you know most of the signs in the Olivet Discourse are progressive and all are described as happening well before the end. Their main interest to us is found in the phrase “beginning of birth pangs.” Natural disasters, the tendency toward war as a tool of diplomacy, famine amidst plenty (35,000 children die each day of starvation and related diseases) and pestilence are described as being common to the era but increasing in frequency and intensity as the end approaches.

It’s true that for over 100 years folks have been saying, “how much worse can it get?” Sadly, the answer now as it was then is, “Much!” It seems man’s depravity knows no limits. But take heart. Though we are in the world, we are not of the world. We don’t belong here, being citizens of heaven. And one day soon our long awaited King will return to take us there. Maranatha!

Chilling Sounds After the Rapture

2009-05-15T14:02:00.000-04:00

Chilling Sounds After the Rapture

A chilling mood has suddenly gripped the entire world. Even the multitudes, which know nothing of the Holy Bible or Jesus Christ, are tantalized with the feeling that they have missed a Divine event. Reporters are searching to understand what has happened. Phones are ringing off their hooks with hectic callers looking for disappeared friends or loved ones. College students, still gripped with their hangover from parties the night before, are jostled with the startling news. Grandfathers, grandmothers, parents, and some friends that were very different are missing and they have left no trace of their whereabouts.

Within a short time, the reports are coming fast and furious. Cars are simply sitting at stoplights or beside the road -- still running -- but containing no trace of their drivers. Some have occupants that are stunned into a stupor because their drivers or passengers have disappeared into seemingly thin air. Many cars are involved in massive wrecks but drivers are not found in those vehicles that caused the wrecks. Several planes have crashed. Their pilots did not answer the airport towers as they veered off course and finally went down in fiery crashes. Hospitals are shorthanded because of missing nurses and doctors, while the emergency rooms are stampeded with the injured and the terrified.

There is a sudden sense in the very atmosphere that any resistance to wickedness and evil is gone. Evil spirits, still invisible but giddy with freedom, are manifesting their dark moods on human faces. Persons that are already possessed with spirits have become brave in their hatred for everyone. Mobs of hoodlums have begun to break into homes and businesses. They are destroying everything in their paths. The police have lost all control because they are outnumbered and utterly helpless. They have realized that they are dealing with sub-humans that would rather kill than live.

People that know the truth of what has happened are quickly aware that the worse is yet to come. The political leaders and law enforcement agencies begin to establish a total police state. Curfews are put in place to clear all streets as police resort to shooting without warning. Total state control is the only possible means of restoring order. Grocery stores are already empty from vandals and shoplifters grabbing everything in sight and loading their cars. Clerks that resist are simply trampled by the melee. It will take days to restore order.

A newscaster finally decides to try and report the events. He begins, “This is a News Alert. Reports are coming to us by the hundreds. Thousands, maybe millions, of people are missing. It’s like they have vanished. Their clothes and shoes, actually everything on their person, were left behind. There are husbands and wives searching for their families. Young people are searching for mothers and fathers. Some teenagers and children are missing. Their parents are utterly insane with fear.

Some parents with missing teens and older juniors are reporting that they were very serious and beautifully religious. In every case it was the best of the lot that are gone. One family called to say that they rushed to find their mother and father, but they were gone. Nothing was changed in the home. Their clothes were in the chairs where they were eating a meal. Their Bible was open to Matthew 24. The verse they saw underlined said, “Two shall be in the field, one shall be taken and the other left.”

Here’s another report, “All of these people were deeply religious, they were not just religious they were kind, loving, Godly, and deeply faithful to their churches. They dressed in old-fashion and modest apparel. Every one of them had often told their families and friends about an event which they called the Rapture, where Jesus Christ would come in the mid-air and they would be caught up to meet him. Could this be true or is this a religious hoax? A Dr. Young just came in from the first church downtown. “Dr. Young, what has happened?” “Mr. Smith, this is all a bizarre story but there is an answer. I’ve been studying the new Eastern religions and making people disappear is an old trick the great pagan priests have done often. They call it astral traveling.

“Some of these people will show back up and others will be locked in paranormal suspension. Tell everybody to just settle down. There is no fear to those that are not overly religious. Be calm, you will be okay. Just thank God you were not one of these crazies.”

Listen, friends, here is another report on the world channel. This report is from the Church of Rome. The Pope has sent a message to every priest to go to the news station and warn everyone against religious hysteria. This great pope, our father of the faith, is the vicar of Jesus Christ. He has the best advice. The pope said that the teaching of Rapture was wrong and that these poor mentally deficient people were too literal in interpreting the Bible. They may be hiding. If they are missing, it will be great for our new day of evangelism. Remember, Mary, the mother of God, could magically appear and disappear. She has been appearing all over the world. If these people are gone, she is responsible. They would not listen to her messages, so she has eliminated them. Now, we can really take the world for the great lord that is about to reveal himself.

But here is another minister. Rev. David Jones, you look white as a ghost. What’s wrong? “My dear friends, I knew better. All my denomination quit preaching the Rapture, so I did. In fact, I studied and came up with an attack on the Rapture. My heart knew better. This was the real thing. Jesus has come and I’ve missed the greatest event in church prophecy. I’m telling everybody that will listen, if you will repent, you will have to be a martyr. I’m lost! I’m lost! It is because I denied the truth that I heard from a young child in my family’s home.”

Suddenly, the reporter stops and reads a note that is passed to him. He turns ashen as he reads, “My teenage son just called to say that his mother, my wife, is missing!”

He has not come, but He is coming! Listen to the angels that appeared when He ascended in the air, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts1:11).

Joseph R. Chambers
jrc@pawcreek.org

Sent weekly from the ministry of the Paw Creek Church and media outreach. This article can be freely used, reprinted, made available on Internet, or used as a sermon note. We would appreciate it if you would always put the source and our web page information if placed on Internet or printed in a publication.

The message was sent by:
Paw Creek Ministries
5110 Tuckaseegee Road
Charlotte, NC 28208 USA

Be sure to visit us online at www.pawcreek.org

NEW BLOG COMING SOON RIGHT HERE AT CROSS FOCUS

2009-04-28T19:40:00.002-04:00

In the next few weeks, we will be redoing this Cross Focus blog with a new look and new content. Much of the existing material will be transferred to another blog and we will let you know which one.
So, for all of you that are our regular readers, keep watching for the new and Improved Cross Focus blog.

THE GREATEST PROOF OF CHRISTIANITY

2009-04-10T21:20:00.003-04:00

We serve a risen Lord. Jesus Christ is alive....

The Wages Of Sin Are Not Pleasant To Behold.

2009-04-03T14:04:00.000-04:00

The Wages Of Sin Are Not Pleasant To Behold.

“The way of transgressors is hard” Proverbs 13:15

No heart can rejoice in the sight of a man destroyed, even though it is by his own doings. Sin is the fountainhead of all sorrow, and it is the mother of all tears. Sin is a mighty destructive force. Sin is never satisfied until a life is ruined, disgraced, and brought into shame.

Go through the Bible and look at the payday of sinning. See Cain walking down the road, driven from the presence of God, saying, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.” [Genesis 4:13]

Then look at mighty Samson, champion of Israel, “grinding in the prison house” with his hair cut and his eyesight gone, having become the laughing stock of Gaza.

Look at David, the sweet singer of Israel. No one could play the melodious tones of the golden harp like David could. See him, this great warrior of Israel, as he stands over the lifeless body of his ill-gotten son, unshaven, unkept, brought into open shame for his sin.

There is only one way to avoid the tragic consequences of sin, and that way is CHRIST.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” [Romans 3:23]

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” [Romans 6:23]

by Len Paxton

SIMPLY BELIEVE

2009-04-03T08:56:00.000-04:00

Simply Believe !

I love the account in Mark 9:14-29 about a boy that could not speak or hear and how he received his healing. Due to space, I will not type out those passages but this also tells us something else very important. If we can believe; Jesus can do it ! Whatever we may need !

We see in this passage a father who had almost lost faith; but his faith was in man. He was to soon come in contact with the Sea Walker, the Leper Cleansing man, the Blind Man healer; Jesus Christ. Jesus was and is; very man and very God. More than a man !

All that was required of this father was that he simply believe. That may seem impossible to us at times, but if we will believe God; He still performs miracles in our lives today ! Even though it may seem too simple, all that is required of us is to simply believe. Whatever we see Jesus doing in the pages of the Bible, He will do the same for us today. He never changes. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. [ Heb. 13:8]

My question to you is this; has the arm of the Lord been shortened?

The answer to that question is a resounding “NO”.

Today, in your life, it may seem that all hell has broken loose around you. It may seem like all of your faith is gone. But I want you to continue to hold on to the promise that our God has given you. If He said it, then it will come to pass. If you can believe it, then our Jesus can do it. Always remember, you are serving a great, big God– Don’t put Him in a box and don’t sell Him short. Our tremendous God can still save the lost and set the captive free.

WALK IN THE WAYS OF GOD

2009-03-24T09:01:00.004-04:00

There are rewards for walking in the ways of God. But, in order to WALK in His ways, you need to KNOW His ways. There are five basic categories of the ways of God in the New Testament:

1. Walk in faith
2. Walk in love
3. Walk in light
4. Walk in the Spirit
5. Walk in fellowship

I really want to concentrate on the WAY OF FAITH. Blessed is the man that walks in the ways of the Lord! One benefit of walking in the ways of God is that you will PROSPER in all you do. If you walk in the counsel of the ungodly, you will be COMPROMISING. What is compromise? One definition is "spiritual erosion." It is the erosion of good intentions.

No one sets out deliberately to compromise. All of us have good intentions where the Word is concerned. We hear the Word and decide to walk in it, but sometimes our good intentions are eroded.

The way of faith causes you to go forward in life. The way of compromise causes you to go backwards. The way of faith enables you to remain patient and endure to the end - cleaving to, trusting in, and relying upon God to see you through. Those who have chosen the way of compromise end up drawing back, quitting, and turning their backs on God's Word.

The way of compromise "seems right" and "appears straight," but notice the outcome is DEFEAT AND DESTRUCTION." It produces undesirable fruit in one's life, and it always appears to be justifiable. Jesus illustrates in His teachings that to choose the way of compromise is to choose the way of the FOOL, and to choose the way of faith is to choose the way of the WISE.

WHICH WAY HAVE YOU CHOSEN?

The only way you can go forward in a world that is going backwards is to walk in the ways of God! Walk by faith and not by sight. Even though it seems that the way of faith is the "hard way," it is the way to victory! Even though standing in faith takes longer sometimes, it is God's way. It will have lasting rewards! CHOOSE THE WAY OF FAITH!

Today's Scriptures: Psalm 1; Jeremiah 7:23,24

2009-03-24T09:01:00.000-04:00

Quiet Time Thoughts About Prayer

2009-03-20T09:12:00.002-04:00

Prayer is a privilege. When we pray we have a personal audience with our heavenly Father.
Prayer is talking to God. Prayer is fellowship with God.
When we pray in Jesus name, we have instant access to God. No appointment is necessary; we can come boldly to the throne of grace and obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.(Heb.4:16)
No Pastors or Priests are needed as middlemen in our prayers.
Prayer is the foundation from which spiritual warfare is launched.
Prayer is an act of discipleship. The word discipline is derived from the word disciple. We will not always feel like praying. But the Bible exhorts us, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thess. 5:16-18)
Prayer is an act of spiritual servanthood. It is something that must be cultivated in our lives on a daily basis.

When we wait on God through prayer, He gives supernatural strength and power. The Bible says " He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak" (Isaiah 40:29)
We should pray earnestly:" Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6)
We should pray with tears: Hebrews 5:7
We should pray and believe: "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" ( Mark 11:24)

The power of prayer is tremendous! Acts 4:31 tells us that after the believers prayed, the very place where they were meeting was physically shaken. They were filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke the Word with boldness.

Find a prayer partner. Someone who you can share prayer adventures with. The Bible is full of references of God's people praying together. Acts 3:1 ; Acts 16:25 ; Acts 4:31 just to name a few. Pray with one another and people will begin to notice-- you have been with Jesus....

Believe God in 2009; He is able.

2009-02-13T09:33:00.004-05:00

The Word of the Lord this month to us is; God can still take care of us in troubled times. First, lets read from Proverbs 3: 5-7
" Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord and depart from evil."

God says in Jeremiah 29:11, that He has plans to give each of us a future and a hope.

No matter what happens around us we have the blessing of God on us and in us.Even when circumstances around us are completely changing, Gods Word does not change. Gods desire and ability to work in your life is unhindered by this worlds circumstances.

Remember,
1- Noah was riding high and dry even though the world went into liquidation.
2- Abraham ended up with great blessings in a land he walked on by faith.Genesis 24:1
3- Isaac sowed in the time of famine and was blessed while the world around him experienced lack. Genesis 26:1-14
4- Jacob enjoyed the blessings of God when his father-in-law tried to cheat him many times.
5- Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers but God put him in charge of all the food supplies in Egypt, and made him second only to Pharaoh.
6- Moses was a shepherd when God told him to bring Israel out of bondage and literally take the abundance of Egypt to the promised land.

I could go on and on but here is what we need to grasp; No matter how things look, we serve a God who has the power and wisdom to bless us and give us victory and peace, if we will trust Him.

BELIEVE GOD. Do not allow your eyes and ears to be filled with fear concerning 2009. We have a God who is able to keep us and even to promote us during hard times. Don't let your hearts be troubled. We, as the body of Jesus, have faith, hope, and love to share with a world that is suffering and hurting. Be strong and expect great things to happen.

GET THE DOUBT OUT.

2009-01-28T10:21:00.003-05:00

The more we grow up spiritually in the Lord, we become more rooted and grounded in the faithfulness of our God. But sometimes doubt will try to creep in and attack our trust in the Lord. In order for us to not lose ground under the attack of the enemy, we must act decisively. Below are 4 steps that we must take to eliminate doubt.

Matthew 21: 20-22 says, "Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, " How did the fig tree wither all at once?". And Jesus answered and said to them, " Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, " Be taken up and cast into the sea' it will happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (NASB)

The first thing we must do when dealing with doubt is to recall God's past faithfulness, and remember His promises. God has done so much for each of us, we have no reason to think that He won't help us in what we are going through now. When we spend time praising God for what He has done for us in previous situations, we are reminded of His Love and provision. Meditating on promises from scripture will reassure us that God will continue to meet every one of our needs.
Read Psalm 41:12, John 16:13; Eph. 3:16 for encouragement.

The second thing is that we must ask the Lord for scriptural guidance. The Lord will direct you to certain passages and make them a rhema word to you for your situation. Get these passages from the Lord down into your inner man. Meditate on them and give God thanks and praise for being active in your life. Prayerfully consider how to apply these verses from the Lord to your circumstances.

The third step is to choose to believe God and His promises. We are wise to put our confidence in Him.

And finally, we must place our trust and faith in what Jesus did for us at the Cross of Calvary. That is where the victory was won forever..

Our human nature is what makes us vulnerable to doubt. But we are also partakers of the Divine nature if we are born again.( 2 Peter 1:3-4) So when we choose to trust God, uncertainty cannot shrink our faith.
God bless you.

Dispensationalism Overview

2009-01-02T16:09:00.005-05:00

Dispensationalism is a System of Theology that recognizes 3 basic things; 1- There is a distinction between Israel and the Church.
2- Scripture is to be interpreted by the literal method unless the text itself mentions a figurative or symbolic interpretation.
3- The purpose of God in this world is His Glory. The before stated beliefs are common to dispensationalists.

Dispensations are ways of dividing time responsive to a particular revelation of the will of God. A basic understanding of the dispensations is a must if the believer is to rightly divide the Word of God.
There are 7 dispensations.
1-] Innocence- From Creation to the Fall. Genesis 1:27; 3:24 2-] Conscience- Start of civilization to the Flood. Genesis 4:1; 8:14
3-] Human Government- leaving the Ark to the Tower Of Babel. Genesis 8:15; 11:32 4-] Promise- From the Call of Abraham to Egyptian bondage. Genesis 12:1; Exodus 19:2
5-] Law-- From the 10 commandments to the end of the Gospels. Exodus 19:3; Acts 1
6-] Grace- Pentecost to the end of the Tribulation. Acts 2; Revelation 19:21
7-] Millennium- Imprisonment of Satan to the Great White Throne. Revelation 20:1; 22:7

This is a very brief outline on Dispensationalism.

HOW THE ENEMY OPERATES

2008-11-25T15:24:00.003-05:00

I realize fully that the title of this post is very broad indeed and that we are only going to be able to touch on a few high points in this brief article.
Ephesians 6:12 says, " For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
Even though our enemies are not people, satan constantly uses people to carry out his perverted dirty work. These ranks of demon spirits are always trying, through whatever means available, to come against the Child of God.

Satan has four big objectives when it comes to hindering the work of God in our lives.
1- Satan wants to cause us to doubt God's Word.
In the garden, he planted a seed of doubt in the mind of Eve and the results devastated the whole human race. See Gen. 3:1

2- Satan tries to distract us from spiritual matters. He wants us to put our focus earthly matters. He will use television, cell phones, computers, relatives, bad news, etc.. to get our mind off the Word and onto things with no eternal value.

3- The devil works very hard to disable us from the service of our Lord. Satan will do anything to stop us from making an impact for Christ. Satan rejoices if he can discredit us in any way. He wants to destroy our testimony. The enemy wants to keep us preoccupied with anything that prevents us from our callings before God.

4- And, satan wants to destroy us physically. One of his most effective efforts involves attacking our bodies. Sickness, stress, addictions, just to name a few, often consume a persons entire life. Of course, our adversary would much rather have us focus on our bodies than on spiritual things.

Satan wants to render you helpless and useless in the everyday battles that you face. He is looking for ways to destroy you. But you and I do not have to be destroyed by the devil. Jesus Christ defeated him at the Cross. You and I can walk in total victory on a daily basis. See Colossians 2: 10, 14, 15

Child of God, trust in what Jesus has done for us at the Cross. Put your faith in Him. Resist the devil. Depend on God;s Spirit. Plead the Blood of Jesus over yourself, your family, your life and your ministry.
In Jesus, we are victorious.

The roadblock of Pride

2008-11-19T11:39:00.002-05:00

Often, there are many roadblocks to a person being blessed. One of the major roadblocks is pride. Pride is a really high opinion of oneself.

Lucifer fell because of pride. See Isaiah 14: 12-14. Pride caused Lucifer to attempt an overthrow of God's kingdom. He was cast down and lost his position. How could an angel think he could overthrow God's kingdom? Obadiah 3 says, " The pride of your heart has deceived you." You see, self-deception takes place when pride enters. Pride will cause a person to think they are smarter than God.

Lets look at some [ only some] of the manifestations of Pride.
1- Not seeking God in prayer and in His Word.
2- Disobeying God's Word and Spirit.
3- Refusal to worship and give to God.
4- Forsaking the assembling in church.
5- No repentance when there is sin.
6- More concern with the opinion of others than with God's opinion.
7- Pursuit of pleasure, comfort, and convenience instead of commitment and surrender to God's will.
8- Rebellion-- unwillingness to submit to spiritual, family, or secular authority.

Those are merely a few of the pride indicators that we could list. What is Gods solution? HUMILITY!
God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Casting our cares on the Lord acknowledges that our heavenly Father is the One who will take care of our cares... As we humble ourselves and resist the devil, God's grace will strengthen, perfect, establish, and settle us.

Faith and Faith alone can save

2008-11-19T11:16:00.002-05:00

In the book of Romans Ch. 1 verses 16 & 17, the Bible says, " For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the Power of God unto Salvation to everyone who believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the Righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the Just shall live by Faith."
If a person is too proud to bend their spirit before God, then that person will never get to heaven. They may be a kind, gentle, loving person; they may even give to charity. But if pride keeps them from admitting their need for Christ, then they are not accepting His gift of salvation.

Many people are in hell today because their heart was too hard and they really believed that their mind was too smart for the God who created them. There is only one to make it to heaven. Holy God can not tolerate sin in His presence, and God decreed that the penalty for sin is death. " For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23 declares... And Romans 3:23 is clear that ALL men are sinners. So, God has provided a bridge between Himself and mankind. Merciful God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die in man's place. Jesus sacrifice is all that is necessary for a person to enter into a relationship with God.

A person does not work or reason their way into heaven. The bridge that spans the gap between each person and God is crossed only through an acts of faith. By acknowledging the need for a savior and by accepting Christ;s death on the Cross as the payment for their sins. The truly wise people of this world are the ones who have accepted this truth and have bowed at the feet of the worlds redeemer; Jesus Christ

NEW WORD SEARCH TOOL TO ENHANCE YOUR STUDY

2008-10-01T09:09:00.002-04:00

Let me tell you about a brand new feature at the bottom of this Cross Focus Blog. It is a Bible Word search tool that will take you into the depths of God's Word. Simply type in a word or phrase that you wish to study, and this tool will take you into the Greek or Hebrew where you can dig out the great truths of the Word of God. I personally use this very tool in daily study and sermon preparation. I mean this is a great way to learn the Word and the original intent in the Word.As with everything on this blog, we have put this here for you. Please avail yourselves of this tremendous Bible Study adventure. You will be glad you did.