Take Care What You Listen to

Alsert fox with ears perked up0 to catch every sund

Have we grasped the seriousness of Jesus’ warning? Take care what you listen to (Mark 4:24). He specifically states we either gain or lose by what we listen to (Mark 4:25).

Where do the thoughts in our heads come from? Ultimately, there are only four sources: the devil, the world, our flesh, and from God. Which are you listening to?

This article focuses on “voices” from the world, specifically the news media. Further, it challenges us to choose our sources carefully.

I’m alarmed. I’m seeing the devastating results of some friends listening to unBiblical news and media.

A good minister is becoming increasingly critical of our country. He listens to CNN.

A convicted felon is totally unaware of the Trump administration policies to promote jobs, programs and infrastructure to aid the poor and felons. Mainstream media minimizes or refuses to cover these initiatives. So the guy is frustrated.

A minister is promoting “open borders,” not accepting the fact that the Bible speaks much about national borders and expects citizens to honor borders.

I see two problems. First, many people don’t know the Scriptures; as a result, they are not able to evaluate news sources or other information. Second, many Christians are simply tuning into untrue “news.”

Jesus’ warning from long ago is pertinent: Take care what you listen to. He adds, For whoever has, to him shall more be given. When we get true information, either from God Himself or from news networks, we will gain and grow. The opposite is also true. And whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him (Mark 4:25). The stakes are high. And it depends on what we choose to listen to.

I feel like shouting, Be careful what you listen to! (Mark 4:24)

We need to become Bible men and Bible women. Every news service has a temperament or bias toward something. Bias is not always bad. If we are grounded in Scripture, we will have a bias, a leaning, toward truth. Locate news services that lean toward Bible truth, not away. There are many.

What Would Jesus Listen to?

The question is audacious, I know, but. . .

Here are three suggestions. Family Research Council is pro-life, pro-family, and pro-freedom.

World Net Daily is managed by an Arab Christian, Joseph Farah, and often has a unique perspective on the news.

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews, the news service originated by Pat Robertson, merits attention. As one who gives away millions of dollars annually to the poor, Robertson is worth listening to.

Most important of all, what is the Holy Spirit speaking to us these days? He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Here’s my definition of church, the ek-klesia, the called out ones: We are called out, to come together, to hear God, and do what He says.

So how are we doing? Are you hearing God? Am I? And are we doing what He says?

Jesus said My sheep hear My voice. . . and they follow Me (John 10:27).

Take care what you listen to.

Photo image thanks to nathan-anderson-148921-unsplash

What is Biblical Manhood?

Most men don’t know what Biblical manhood is. That’s a problem because most people, including women, admire genuine masculinity.

Let’s face it. Ever since Adam we men have failed in numerous ways. But this is no time to rehearse failure. Rather, let’s survey the opposition and move ahead.

Opposition? There’s plenty. Yes, Virginia, there is a war against men. Primarily, the war against Biblical manhood arises from that ancient foe, the devil. He tries to tempt, deceive and accuse men. The devil is working to corrupt God’s design for men and he has a lot of allies today. For example, the American Psychological Association condemns “traditional masculinity as harmful.”

Satan is attempting to turn culture against Biblical manhood. (He is also trying to corrupt God’s design for genuine femininity, but that’s a subject for another day.)

Culture abounds with pejorative phrases such as “toxic masculinity.” Men, especially “white men” are pictured as evil in popular articles and movies. The Kavanaugh hearings exposed many people’s anger toward men of even impeccable reputation.

For the height of ludicrosity, Facebook now lists 71 gender options. You read that right–71 different gender options! According to Facebook, a man can be born a man, but morph into myriad other options. That is to say, a man doesn’t even have to be a man anymore. He can be half a man or a woman even no man at all.

So Where are the Men?

Behold, the Man! The announcement of Governor Pontius Pilate makes one Man stand out. I’m not talking only about sin or holiness. I’m talking about manhood in the traditional sense.

Jesus showed the endurance of a Navy Seal. From Thursday morning to His death about 3 pm Friday afternoon, He was awake amid some of the most exhausting trials anyone could endure. Betrayed by closest supporters, questioned by religious leaders and civil authorities, mocked and beaten by soldiers, scourged by Roman whipmasters, He was without sleep for over 40 hours according to my count.

Toward the end of that ordeal, beaten, mocked and abused by the Roman gendarmes, he was paraded before the governor. When Pilate saw Him, He marveled, Behold the Man. (Some say, Pilate was sarcastic and ridiculing. I say He was admiring, or at the very least, trying to figure out “Who is this Man?”

Christ’s deportment under scrutiny demonstrates a man of both physical and emotional strength.

What is Biblical Manhood?

What are the qualities of a Bible man, a true man?

In regard to vertical relationships, there is no distinction between men and women. That is, before God (the vertical relationship) man and woman are the same. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).

However, in regard to human relationships we find a time-tested divine order. But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:3)

Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. (1 Corinthians 11:$) . There are too many man hiding behind their hats today. Here’s my call. Where are you? Come forth, O man of God!

What Does Biblical Manhood Look Like? Five Traits for Starters

Biblical men speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15, 4:25)

Adam was silent when he should have protected Eve. While silence may sometimes be golden, many men are afraid to speak out when we need to. Jesus spoke clearly to the Pharisees, Doom to you, and He did it in love for the purpose of waking them up so they could be saved (Matthew 23).

Biblical men become filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18)

Jesus was filled with the Spirit. ‘Tis a great need for men today so we can become sharers of our faith.

Biblical men fear Christ (Ephesians 5:22)

We fear Christ because He is God. All believers in Christ will stand before the Judgement seat of Christ. At that time we will have to give an account of our lives and be judged for our works (1 Corinthians 3:8ff).

Biblical men take leadership (Ephesians 5:23)

God ordained men to take leadership. Man is not the head of the home; he is head of the wife. God even compares the man to Christ as “savior” of his wife. He saves his wife though prayer (anybody can do this!) and example, as well as other ways.

Biblical men show love through sacrifice (Ephesians 5:25)

Sacrifice is not a featured theme in society these days. Yet it is God’s signature call to men. W are called to lay down our lives for our wives in much the same way Christ laid down His life for the church.

Agape love (covenantal, commitment-type love) rather than eros or romantic love is the type spoken of here. It is shown in forgiveness, focus and until-death-us-do-part commitment to the wife of his vows.

The Tank Man Illustrates Biblical Manhood

I’m not saying the Tank Man of Tiananmen Square was a Christian or had all the qualities of Biblical manhood. But he certainly demonstrated sacrifice and commitment and willingness to lay down his own life.

Click here to view the remarkable 2:22 minute tank man video

Are you a Biblical man?

What is Ideal Church/Apostle Relationship?

How do you find the ideal church/apostle relationship? Fred Herzog smiles and then addresses the question in this 104 second video.

I was a student at Luther Seminary in Minneapolis in the early 1970’s when Fred started New Testament Church. I remember the day in his home when we gathered together to discuss a name for the fellowship. Fred listened to all who suggested various names and then, with mutual consent, chose “New Testament Church.”

Let’s listen to Fred’s thoughts as he discusses “How would you describe an ideal church and apostle relationship?”

Fred has thought about questions like this one over most of his life. Worth listening to? You bet!

I didn’t know much about apostles–or about a lot of other things!–when I first met Fred. And if you want some background about apostles, come to What is an Apostle?

In the 50 years or so since those days, I’ve learned significant insights regarding ideal church/apostle relationships.

Here’s a biggie: It’s better to speak of real church/apostle relationships than an ideal church/apostle relationship. Why? Because, of the latter, there aren’t any! It’s like in a good and Godly marriage, we still have to work things out.

For an in-depth study of how churches related to apostles in the New Testament Era, grab a copy of my book about apostles. It tells how each and every church in the New Testament related to Paul or one of the other apostles. You might be surprised at how real–how human–the getting alongs were.

2 Wow-Worthy “Takehomes” for You from Don Miller

What’s the Most Important Job of a Leader?

Ok, what’s your answer? Stop . . . What’s your answer? I admit I gave a lame answer. But Donald Miller has really set my mind to thinking. In fact, Ethan, who works with me in ministry, and I are honing our focus in order to minister more effectively.

This short video will likely challenge you as it did me.

https://www.businessmadesimple.com/video/the-most-important-job-of-a-leader/

How to Write a Killer Tagline

Much related to the first video, “How to Write a Killer Tagline” continues to exercise my mind. In fact, I sometimes wake up in the night and mull over the quest for an effective, true and memorable one-liner to help our church people focus.

I’m applying this video to the church even though it was planned for business. To my mind, Don Miller is like an apostle to churches from the business world. He certainly challenges me to make my message clear.

Is this video worth 2:38 minutes of your life? Watch and see.
https://www.businessmadesimple.com/video/this-type-of-tagline-makes-you-money/

What’s the tagline for your church? For your ministry?

Apostles make us think and take risks. (Things in short supply in some churches these days.) I’m not saying Miller is an apostle, not at all, but he is challenging his hearers to communicate clearly. And that’s something apostles do.

What Can We Do to Change Government and Culture?

Michael and Terri Piper, apostolic church leaders in Brazil, tell how God brought churches together to change a nation.

I interviewed the Pipers at a camp in Mexico in March, 2019. Here’s hope and a challenge for any nation in the world. Thanks to Erik Martinez for recording the interview.

Is there a need for apostles today?

Is there a need for apostles to bring churches together?

What’s Behind Our War Against Men?

Publisher’s note: “What’s Behind Our War Against Men?” first appeared as a lead article in World Net Daily’s Whistleblower Magazine. The original title was “What’s Behind the Left’s War Against Men?” I changed the title and published the article intact. Why the title change? Because many who ar not “leftists,” including some Christians, have a battle against men. The altered title better fits reality.

To most Americans, the radical feminist belief that men are intrinsically abusive, predatory and responsible for most of society’s problems has always seemed like a marginal viewpoint.

War Against Men Growing in Intensity

But then came last year’s highly publicized Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh. Not only was Kavanaugh, a jurist with an impeccable professional and personal record, viciously condemned as a serial rapist on virtually no evidence, but the concurrent attacks on the presiding Senate Judiciary Committee members for being predominantly “old white men” jarred many people, who wondered aloud: When did it become a crime to be a man?

Though the issue still flies mostly under the radar – except in news stories involving alleged sexual abuse and the #MeToo movement – a serious anger toward all men is steadily rising in an America drenched in identity politics.

Back in the ’70s and ’80s, some of the most well-known feminist leaders openly despised all men, categorically denouncing marriage as “slavery” and “legalized rape.” But again, these were obviously fringe positions and most people regarded them as such.

Today, however, generalized antipathy towards men is increasingly expressed using pejorative code terms like “toxic masculinity,” or else disguised with added modifiers – like “white men” or “old white men,” rather than just “men.” But venerated black columnist and economics professor Walter Williams, in his article “Demonizing white men all the rage,” calls out this obfuscation, concluding: “I think that the attack is on masculinity itself and that white men are a convenient scapegoat – for now.”

Indeed, the American Psychological Association, in a new report released in January titled “APA Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men,” flat-out condemns “traditional masculinity” as “harmful.”

Not only is masculinity dangerous to men, warns the 118,000-member organization, but it also somehow constitutes an “ideology” that leads to sexual harassment of women and encourages “homophobia.”

“Marked by stoicism, competitiveness, dominance and aggression,” says the APA, “traditional masculinity is psychologically harmful,” adding that “socializing boys to suppress their emotions causes damage that echoes both inwardly and outwardly.”

Unfortunately, attacks on “toxic masculinity” and men in general have come increasingly to dominate today’s elite sphere, particularly on university campuses, which are awash with courses and events titled “Rethink Masculinity,” “Male Melancholia: Crisis Masculinity,” “White Men, Aggrieved Entitlement, and Violence” and “HashtagAllMen: A Reflection on Men’s Complicity in Rape Culture.”

This growing antagonism toward men in general has developed to the point that some progressives, for whom identity politics has become their singular yardstick for personal and national morality, argue that since the last 45 presidents have been men, America must have a woman president. Writer and former New Yorker fact-checker Talia Lavin penned a recent Huffington Post column headlined, “I Want A Woman President. I’m Not Afraid to Say So Anymore.” Chicago Tribune reporter Heidi Stevens titled her recent Tribune article, “It’s time for a century of women: The argument for electing a female president ASAP.” And in Rebecca Sive’s new book, “Vote Her In: Your Guide to Electing Our First Woman President,” the foreword, penned by Julia M. Stasch, president of the wealthy and influential John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, explains the burning necessity of having a woman run the United States of America:

“The election and presidency of Barack Obama ripped off the Band-Aid of complacency about race in our country, forcing us to confront the malignant racism that threads through our history and continues today. Ugly, yes, but there is today perhaps a more honest environment within which to try to find common ground, to make progress, and to heal.

“Although the #MeToo movement provides a jumpstart, the presidency of a woman may serve the same revolutionary purpose as the election of our first African American president. Let’s face head-on the misogyny, the entitlement, the low expectations, and the patronizing “respect” for women that has made our path to shared power so hard. … There is one more important reason. A just society demands it. …The election of the first woman president is a building block of a just society.”

With the siren song thus wailing, an ever-growing number of Democrat women are heeding the call and running for president – including Sen. Kamala Harris, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and author/activist Marianne Williamson. Others, like failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, say they may run as well.

‘We have every right to hate you’

“Misandry” – the hatred of men – “went out of fashion during the 1980s and the idea that feminists were all ‘lesbians and man haters’ was rightly ridiculed,” writes British author and journalist Tim Lott. “Now it’s back – and much closer to the mainstream than it was 50 years ago.”

Lott explains: “Despite all the remarkable advances we have made in gender equality, the idea that all men are the enemy of all women has been given a new lease of life, helped by the disgrace of Harvey Weinstein, the rise of Donald Trump and the successes of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements.”

Consider a typical feminist voice not from a generation ago, but featured in today’s Washington Post.

“Why can’t we hate men?” is the screaming headline for Suzanna Danuta Walters’ June 8, 2018, Post commentary. A sociology professor and director of the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at Northeastern University, Walters doesn’t hold back: “In this moment, here in the land of legislatively legitimated toxic masculinity, is it really so illogical to hate men?”

After cataloging the various evils she attributes to all men, Walters ends with a challenge: “So men, if you really are #WithUs and would like us to not hate you for all the millennia of woe you have produced and benefited from, start with this: Lean out so we can actually just stand up without being beaten down. Pledge to vote for feminist women only. Don’t run for office. Don’t be in charge of anything. Step away from the power. We got this. And please know that your crocodile tears won’t be wiped away by us anymore. We have every right to hate you. You have done us wrong. #BecausePatriarchy. It is long past time to play hard for Team Feminism. And win.”

Is War Against Men Reasonable?

Question: How can intelligent, educated adults in 2019 America, where women are freer and better off than in any country or at any time in history, possibly be consumed with such unbridled hatred for an entire group that comprises fully half of the population? Especially when that half of the population has fought all of our wars, cleared all of our wilderness, invented everything, constructed our civilization, and protected and sacrificed itself for women and children from day one.

Tim Lott offers an explanation for this “demented” worldview, arguing “there is a prism through which [hating men] makes perfect sense, the prism constructed by the odd and contradictory fusion of neo-Marxism and post-modernism”:

In this scheme of thought, now widely taught in the humanities and social science departments of the West’s leading universities, there are no intrinsically superior, universal values, like love or dignity or general human goodwill – and no such thing as “objective” truth in the scientific sense. It’s all relative. There are just multiple and sometimes overlapping groups that compete for power, and their values, even their idea of what constitutes a “fact,” are determined by the relative status of their group. The most powerful group in society – in all societies – are men, and men, therefore, are collectively guilty for the oppression of every less powerful group.

Though Lott’s analysis is insightful and accurate as far as it goes, being an entirely secular evaluation it omits any mention of God or religion. But that’s precisely where the rest of the story can be found.

For Western nations rapidly transitioning into post-Christian societies, two opposite worldviews now openly war with each other. One is the traditional Judeo-Christian, biblical, patriarchal “prism” and the other is based on Marxist notions of radical equality.

The Bible – and the historical, cultural, moral and spiritual worldview it illuminates and champions – is utterly patriarchal. God is neither our Mother nor a genderless cosmic being, but our heavenly Father. God the Father created the first man, Adam; then out of Adam He created Eve. Almost all the Old Testament prophets were men. Jesus Christ was a man, as were all His apostles. Down through the centuries, the vast majority of Jewish and Christian religious leaders, from popes and priests to evangelists, rabbis and ministers, have been men. So, for that matter, have the vast majority of national political leaders.

Why? Is it, as alleged by those sworn to “tear down the patriarchy,” simply because men take advantage of their greater size, strength and aggressiveness to oppress women by bullying them into submission? Or is there a higher, indeed transcendent, principle – a divine order – evident in the overwhelmingly dominant leadership role men have exercised throughout human history?

In the Judeo-Christian worldview, just as God causes electrons to orbit around atomic nuclei and planets to orbit around suns so everything doesn’t crash into everything else and quickly descend into smoldering chaos, He also ordains a certain order to life on earth – to prevent much the same chaotic outcome.

“The head of every man is Christ,” writes the Apostle Paul, “and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” (1 Corinthians 11:3) According to this understanding, the order of authority in a marriage could be roughly compared to a military chain of command: The colonel is not jealous and hateful toward the general for “oppressing” him even though the general is above him in authority. The general is not a superior person to the colonel, and indeed the colonel might even be wiser or better informed than the general in certain areas, gladly offering his counsel to him. But the general is the general.

What makes this work, of course, is that both the colonel and the general are under a higher authority still, that of the commander-in-chief. In a God-centered marriage, the “commander-in-chief” is God. So the relationship between the two “officers” is not about ego or oppression, as both are there to cooperatively serve the same higher commander and the same transcendent mission, that of together raising a godly family.

Competing against this traditional worldview, which for centuries admirably served as the basis for a stable and prosperous America, is today’s essentially godless cult of radical equality. Seen through this prism, every race, religion, ideology, culture, ethical system and sexual/gender orientation, no matter how bizarre, immoral or insane, is as valid and worthwhile as every other (well, except for Christianity, conservatives, Republicans, men and white people in general). At the core of this worldview, there is no God, no divine moral law, no higher purpose of life binding us all together; there is only power and glory for the individual and tribe. And since there’s no ultimate meaning to anything, there can be no real differences between the sexes, other than those we ourselves decree.

Thus, everything Americans of previous generations thought was solid and real, even the most basic biology, is now considered merely the result of “social constructs” overseen by society’s oppressor class. So, for example, whether there are two genders as we once believed, or 24 or 48 (Facebook currently offers 71 gender choices, but a more recent online list includes 112), we are living in a time when every person is encouraged to pursue his, her or zir own “truth.”

But in reality, without the Living God overshadowing people in their relationships with one another, it doesn’t ultimately matter whether we have a patriarchal culture (Muslim culture is oppressively and abusively “patriarchal”), or a revolutionary matriarchy with a radical feminist queen at the top, or some dreamed-up totalitarian nightmare regime of enforced radical equality. The result will be the same: ever-evolving anxiety, conflict, loss of freedom, madness, violence and slavery. One of our founding fathers, William Penn, put it perfectly: “If man is not governed by God, he will be ruled by tyrants.”

Truth is, what we’re really beholding in today’s growing condemnation of men – not of the Harvey Weinsteins of the world, but disdain toward men in general – is primal rage and rebellion against God and the divine laws, order and values He so wisely has provided for our eternal benefit.

wb-042019-COVER-500

The preceding (under the headline “The rise of the rebel queen”) is David Kupelian’s introductory story in the April issue of Whistleblower magazine, “HATING MEN: The left’s ultimate strategy for overturning Judeo-Christian America.”
Read more at https://www.wnd.com/2019/05/whats-really-behind-the-lefts-war-on-men/#1CFiAsj3PuJDasAA.99

Spirit of God Comes to You at Communion

Spirit of Christ Indwells Communion Elements
Spirit of Christ Indwells Communion Elements

I intend to show from the Scriptures that the Spirit of Christ indwells the communion elements.

As a background, let’s examine briefly the Catholic, Reformed and Lutheran concepts of the Eucharist. I use the terms Communion, Eucharist, Lord’s Table and Lord’s Supper interchangeably.

The Catholic, Reformed and Lutheran Interpretation of Communion

Catholic theology teaches that in each mass Christ is crucified afresh. However, chapters 7-9 of the book of Hebrews state seven times that Christ died once and for all. Catholics also need to reconsider the basic doctrine of transubstantiation (the conversion of the substance of the Eucharistic elements into the body and blood of Christ at consecration, only the appearances of bread and wine still remaining).

At the same time, it seems to me Catholics—especially charismatic Catholics—experience healings and deliverances in Eucharistic services far more frequently than Pentecostals and Evangelicals.

The Reformed tradition teaches that the bread and juice (or wine) merely represent the true body and blood of Christ. This is clearly a Western, rationalistic understanding of communion. It fails to grasp the Biblical, Hebraic and Mid-Eastern mindset. Compared to other communion concepts the representative view of communion lacks the power portrayed in Scripture. For example, in 1 Corinthians 11:30 we see many church people got sick or even died as a result of improper communion. Consequently, Luther was right to reject it.

One aspect of the reformed view that could be seen as positive is this: it is easily grasped by the Western mindset.

Martin Luther viewed the Lord’s Supper as the “Real Presence” of Christ, and denied both the Catholic and Zwinglian theologies. He saw the elements as “vehicles” to bring the “Real Presence” of Christ to the participant.

The Lutheran view realizes at least some of the power of the Biblical concept of Communion. However, it does not explain the “how” or the “why” that the “Real Presence” is in the communion. Ask any Lutheran to explain communion and you will most likely find bewilderment. I spent years in the Lutheran Church and never, not even once, found a clear explanation of Communion.

Proposed Pentecostal Understanding of Holy Communion

Spirits Inhabit People and Other Living Beings

In the Bible, there exist numerous times when spirits, either good or bad, attached themselves to people. Saul, David, the Gadarene demoniac, the twelve disciples of Acts 2 are examples. At least once, demons came upon a herd of hogs, which caused the pigs to rush into the sea and drown.

Spirits Inhabit Physical Objects

That spirits inhabit people and physical objects should never be doubted by students of the Bible or astute observers of modern life.

Let me offer two clear examples.

First, the Ark of the Covenant (1 Sam 5:1-12). The power of the Spirit in the Ark of God proved superior to the power in the Philistine god Dagon. Further, wherever the Ark went among the Philistines, it caused tumors and confusion.

Second, the false prophet gives breath (Gr: pneuma or spirit) to the image [statue] of the beast, that the image of the beast might even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed (Rev 13:15).  

Look closely at the photo above. You may see what you missed earlier

Photo by Josh Marshall on Unsplash

If you practice deliverance ministry, you have undoubtedly uncovered spirits attached to objects or houses. I have personally cast out spirits from houses and seen not only the house, but also the people living in the house, set free.

How many times have naive people kept a little Buddhist statue on the shelf in their home only to find out it was bringing depression and confusion into their life? Remove the statue and the depression leaves.

Beware! Looks Innocuous but May Cause Harm
Beware! Looks Innocuous but May Cause Harm

I have cast many spirits out of many different people. When the spirits go, depression, sickness, confusion, deception also go. (Obviously, not every symptom can be traced to a spirit. Spirits don’t cause every symptom. There are other causes as well. Let me make that clear.)

The Biblical Basis for the Spirit of Christ Indwelling the Communion Elements of Bread and Wine (or Juice).

A Pentecostal Theology of the Eucharist

From the Garden of Eden onward there exists a connection between food and acts of God. When Eve and Adam bit the apple (or peach, or fig?), humanity was forever changed. God sent a spiritual curse or punishment on Satan, Eve, Adam, the ground, and the entire human race (Gen 3:14-19).

God has always had a significant interest in our food and how it relates to Him.

In fact, the Old Covenant was ratified with food and drink . . . . they saw God, and they ate and drank (Ex 24:11b). What an astounding point of contact with the seventy elders of Israel!

At the first Passover meal, God judged the gods of Egypt. Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the LORD (Ex 12:12). The Egyptian gods were false gods, yet powerful enough to control much of Egyptian society.

The Passover Meal (and the Lord’s Table that fulfills it) has untold power for those who eat in faith. The Passover Meal took place just hours before the Exodus from Egypt. Can you imagine the condition of the Israeli people? They were slaves, harassed and whipped by merciless slave masters. Without a doubt, many were sick, weak, or injured. They were laden with the diseases of Egypt. But when they ate the Passover Lamb, remarkable things happened. Psalm 105:37 relates the memorable results of eating the Passover Lamb!

Then He brought them out with silver and gold, And among His tribe there was not one who stumbled (NASV). There was not one feeble person among their tribes. (KJV). (Excerpted from my book Answer for Cancer: 9 Keys).

In the New Testament we find even common everyday food became sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer (1 Tim 4:5). In other words, the food was changed, altered, made holy, because of God’s word and prayer. How much more, the communion elements!

1 Corinthians 10:16-21 specifically addresses the issue of whether or not spirits indwell food. Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?

This passage specifically refers to the Lord’s Table of the New Testament church. The cup (of wine or juice) and the loaf of bread had to be blessed [with some sort of thanksgiving or ritual]. Then it became a sharing in the bloody sacrificial death of Christ. The Greek word used is koinonia, which means a sharing, participation, or fellowship in something.

When we partake of the food, we partake of the God who gave the food. For the pagans, there was a demon spirit in the food. Paul said, I do not want you to become sharers in demons (1 Cor 10:20). In contrast, for the Christian communion, there is the Spirit of Christ with the food.

Some reviewers swallow hard (pun intended!) at the thought that either demons or the Spirit of Christ can attach to the food we eat. More than one has pointed to 1 Corinthians 8:4 we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, thereby denying the possibility that spirits inhabit foods.

But read on. In the very next verse Paul acknowledges that there are so called gods whether in heaven or on earth; in fact, there are many gods and many lords (1 Cor 8:5).

How could this become any clearer? When the pagans ate food sacrificed to the idol gods, they took into their bodies the demonic spirits of those gods.

When believers imbibe the bread and drink, we take into our bodies the Spirit of Christ that indwells the elements.

Communion a Point of Contact with God

In His great mercy and grace, God has selected many connection points with His children. Some are one-time events. In contrast, communion is an ongoing event until Christ returns.

The most common point of connection is the church service. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst (Matt 18:20). Other points of connection in Scripture are the Ark of the Covenant, the cloud, handkerchiefs and aprons, hands laid upon a person, Jesus’ robe, tithes and offerings, anointing with oil, even the bones of Elisha and the bronze serpent.

Why is a point of contact with God so important? Because it’s a specific time and place where God interacts with a person or group. A point of contact is a God-ordained time and place where God has chosen to supernaturally act. That’s why there are healings and other supernatural acts at the Lord’s Table.

Dangers of the Pentecostal Theology of Communion (That the Spirit of Christ Indwells the Bread and Juice)

While a Pentecostal understanding of the Eucharist holds the promise of the release of greater connection and power with God, it also poses dangers. I mention two.

The greatest danger is turning the Eucharist or the elements into an idol. This happened with the bronze serpent. Originally, God directed Moses to make the bronze serpent as a remedy for the snake bites (Numbers 21:9). All who gazed at the serpent in faith, God healed. As the years progressed, however, the bronze serpent became an idol and finally had to be destroyed (2 Kings 18:4).

An associated danger with all theologies of communion, not only with the approach that I’m proposing, is that of coming to the altar with wrong attitudes. This includes coming with lack of forgiveness, without love toward people, and without faith to connect with God.

I have written briefly showing instances from Scripture and life where spirits, both good and evil, attach themselves to people and objects. I applied this to the Lord’s Table.

Now I ask for your thoughts. Are you and your church people experiencing the power and presence of Christ in communion? We have always found a little, but only a little, of the magnificence of Christ that He deserves in communion. That is until recently. As I have begun to explore and teach a Pentecostal communion, our church is beginning to come alive at the Lord’s Table due to the Spirit of Christ inhabiting the elements.

Several ministers have reviewed this article. I especially thank Edgar Mendez of Queretaro and Edgar Olvera from Mexico City for their extensive input and corrections. Nevertheless, the contents remain my own and I am solely responsible for the concepts.

May God bless and promote you. Again, please share your thoughts with me. I value your input.

God Answers Prayer for Leaders in Iowa

M

Publisher’s note: God Answers Prayer in Iowa. Yes! We are encouraged to keep crying out to God in heaven. He is faithful. At the Church of the Living Water in Muscatine, Iowa we take seriously God’s mandate to begin each meeting with prayer for our government. Not only us; we sense a groundswell of faith rising across our state. To God be the glory.

Not every court gets away with rewriting the law!

God Answers Prayer in Iowa

In Iowa, legislators had one final message for the state’s Supreme Court before they closed out the 2019 session: leave the lawmaking to us. Two months after all seven justices put taxpayers on the hook for gender reassignment surgery, the state House and Senate had the last word — “No.”

It took a rare working weekend to close out Iowa’s biggest business, but leaders finally put a bow on one of the most expensive bills of the year: the $2 billion health budget. The hours leading up the vote were frantic ones, but conservatives managed to beat the clock with two provisions that infuriated liberal extremists.

God answers Prayer by Cutting Planned Parenthood Funds

For starters, Republicans took an ax to a good chunk of Planned Parenthood’s funding. With one quick move, state leaders decided that abortion providers shouldn’t be eligible for the state’s sex-ed funding. Our friends at The Family Leader agreed, insisting it was time to give the $260,000 to groups that steered kids in the right direction. “As we suggested to the legislators, that could have a conflict of interest. Their customers are pregnant girls. They make money off of abortion…”

The other move, the one that seems to be generating the most attention, is the very public rebuke of the court’s transgender ruling in early March. Two months ago, the justices decided — unanimously — that Iowa couldn’t refuse two people’s gender reassignment surgeries under Medicaid. As far as the court was concerned, the state’s Civil Rights Act mandates that taxpayers fork over money for the controversial procedures. Hours before the session drew to a close, Senator Mark Costello (R) added language to roll back the ruling, restoring the Iowa code “to the way it was for years before the lawsuit.” After all, he argued, these surgeries are “not a proper use of state monies.”

The two chambers agreed — amending the bill and sending it straight to Governor Kim Reynolds’s (R) desk. Despite the pressure from outside groups, Reynolds didn’t blink. She signed the bill into law to the cheers of pro-lifers and conservatives everywhere. Liberals, meanwhile, were incensed — especially because the governor had the power to strike the provisions and refused. “We are deeply disappointed [in] Gov. Reynolds…” said the director of one of the state’s LGBT activist groups. “She could have line-item vetoed the cruel and outdated language that enshrines discrimination in Iowa law without disrupting HHS services but chose not to. In doing so, she’s tarnished Iowa’s reputation as a state that stands for fairness and equality.”

God Answers Prayer Using The Family Leader

Hardly, The Family Leader’s Drew Zahn fired back. “Taxpayers should not be compelled to fund potentially harmful procedures that seek treatment options outside of God’s design.” The governor’s office insisted that all she was doing was bringing back the status quo. “This narrow provision simply clarifies that Iowa’s Civil Rights Act does not require taxpayer dollars to pay for sex reassignment and other similar surgeries. This returns us to what had been the state’s position for years,” spokesman Pat Garrett said.

Based on the media’s hysteria, you’d think that the governor had banned transgender surgery altogether! She didn’t. All she’s done is drawn the line at taxpayer funding. And contrary to what these activists would have you believe, that may be the most compassionate response of all. There’s absolutely no proof that this “treatment” makes anyone happier.

Suicide Rate for Transgenders is 19 Times the Normal

Even after having the surgery they seek, the suicide rate of people who identify as transgender is 19 times higher than the general population in places like Sweden. No wonder experts like Dr. Miroslav Djordjevic, who specializes in this kind of surgery, are starting to warn about the repercussions of steering patients into this kind of life-altering decision.

Over the last five years, Dr. Djordjevic says he’s been overwhelmed by the number of people who’ve approached him about reversing their procedure. The surgery that they thought would bring them the satisfaction they were looking for only plunged them into deeper despair. A growing number of them, he tells Canada’s National Post, were miserable. More and more people have made appointments to undo a procedure that’s not only excruciatingly painful — but expensive. “They came from countries all over the Western world, Britain included, united by an acute sense of regret.” They told him about “crippling levels of depression” with intense suicidal thoughts. “It can be a real disaster to hear these stories,” he says. “And yet,” the doctor points out, “they are not being heard.”

What people need more than anything is the help that too many states want to deny them: the advice and comfort of a qualified therapist. LGBT activists want you to believe that the humane response is encouraging and affirming these feelings. But affirming dangerous and destructive ideas is not compassion. Real compassion is helping people find their way to freedom and fulfillment that comes from knowing the truth, especially when they don’t want to hear the truth.

How Would You Define Apostle?

Howard Jackson here defines “apostle” in a generic sense in this first 54 second video.

Now to a more specific use of the word “Apostle” in the New Testament. . .

In this 36 second video Howard Jackson focuses on the calling of a Christian minister in the specific sense of the New Testament apostolic calling. There’s a whole lot more info at Churches and Apostles.

Let the Fear of God Fall on the Land

Let the Fear of God Fall on the Land

The ongoing exposures of sexual harassment in America and the world are signs of revival. The exposure of church leaders who compromise and fail to repent are a sure sign of God’s judgment. Judgment is part of revival. Judgment begins with the church and continues with all segments of society.

Let’s thank God that the Hollywood icons Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey are exposed. Let’s thank God for focusing the light on pastors, senators and others in the church and government. Three megachurch pastors in the Chicago area have recently been forced to resign. The Charlie Rose firing by CBS and Matt Lauer firing by NBC (both months ago) appear to be righteous judgments that help to cleanse the nation and the nation’s airways.

Why is this happening? David Brooks, New York Times columnist and NPR commentator claims political reasons underlie the sudden outcry against harassment against women.

Think again. The sudden morality awareness stems from the prayers of the church. 2 Chronicles 7:14, the enduring watchword of the church is activated and is producing heaven-intended results. Since at least 2017 our sovereign and faithful God is fulfilling His response to those prayers.

In 2012 God spoke to me, “Prepare My people for judgment.”

Are you calling for revival? Join the movement. Let’s become history-makers. Let the fear of God fall on our land!

The expose’ of sin is none other than God’s timely and loving answer to prayer. The prayers of the church are bringing a fear of God on the land.

What about Mercy for Leaders?

Mercy triumphs over judgment. Mercy is God’s first response and is the first response of people like Him. We need to pray for the gift of repentance for leaders (and anyone else) who violates God’s heart and pleasure. If, however, any leader continues in sin and fails to listen to God’s warnings, prayers for divine removal are fitting and Biblical.

Jesus spoke strong words of judgment to the Pharisees and scribes, who were the political and religious leaders of the Jewish nation: Fill up then the measure of the guilt of your fathers (Matthew 23:32). Jesus is warning, “If you continue adding to the sins of your father, you will bring on yourselves divine judgement. ”

Evil leaders are leading their followers into sin. I personally pray for some officials that God remove them if they refuse to repent. “Repentance or removal,” is my plea. The sooner they are removed, the less judgment will fall on them. Is that not God’s mercy?

Fear of God? What Should We Do Now?

Look to ourselves, lest we too be tempted. God is ruthless and jealous. Don’t think any of us can escape if we knowingly harbor sin of any kind.

Let’s keep clamoring on the doors of heaven. A mistake I’ve made in the past is to stop too soon. No more. We cannot stop praying when we see the answers begin to arrive. Better, when answers start pouring in, that’s the signal to pour fuel on the fire. Now is prime time to increase passion and prayer, not diminish either.

Are you calling for revival? Are you calling for the fear of God to fall on our land? I am. Let’s be like Elijah: go ruthlessly for the root cause. There’s much more work to be done.


Featured Photo by Kat Love on Unsplash

Second Photo by Shelby Miller on Unsplash