Lawyers, Judges & Jesus

I don’t know about the rest of you but when you put those three words together into one thought its trouble. Jesus expected it and tried to encourage His followers to expect it as well;

Luke 21:12-15 "But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name's sake. "It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. "So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.

One of the brothers who is attempting to warn the saints of the quickly Emerging apostate church is Ken Silva of Apprising Ministries. In speaking the truth about Tony Jones he is now under attack by Tony’s wife. Check out the details in the following link;

KEN SILVA THREATENED WITH LAWSUIT OVER TONY JONES

My point in all of this is to remind all of us that we are to expect these types of actions when we proclaim truth to warn some of the wayward saints of the disaster that awaits them if they continue down the path of this Emergent Church. You will be maligned and threatened with lawsuits and perhaps even physically assaulted………but remember……that’s what happened to Jesus.

A great resource to learn more about this “suffering” thing is a small but powerful book “The Triumphant Church”. You can order this book through the Voice of the Martyrs website, click here. I use this book in several of the sessions in the seminars I conduct and in two of the courses I have taught at Changed By Grace College. I would highly recommend that you have this book in your “preparation” library.

Let us also be obedient in remembering those in prayer as they stand faithfully and proclaim the truth knowing full well that it will cost them something.

Who's Your Daddy?

I am adding this link on this "Practical Stand" BLOG because it speaks greatly of the need we all have to do a "spiritual reality check". This article from Apprising Ministries really causes its readers to observe very carefully this Emergent Church craze (or should I say SCHEME) but then to challenge the reader to look into the roots. Check out the video at the end......and perhaps weep a bit.

ROB BELL: MEET YOUR SPIRITUAL FATHER

Who's your spiritual "Daddy"?

AIDS - Who could possibly not want to help?

Saints:

Be very careful and do not get sucked into this whole "Fighting AIDS" crisis that the apostate church is all in a tither about, it's simply a ploy for advancing many different anti-Christ agendas. Take a few minutes to read the following article and then look at the people and organizations that are pushing this. Then, focus on what God's Word has to say. Then, "choose this day who you will serve"!

U.S. evangelicals strive to change attitudes on AIDS


Luke 21:36 "But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."
Jesus warned us!

1 Thessalonians 5:6 so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.
Paul warned us!

1 Peter 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Peter warned us!

1 John 4:6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
John warned us!

Please, don't say; "I wasn't warned"!

Here comes the "HATE CRIMES" Natzi's.....again

Here is something we can "practically" do to help stem the tide of this inevitable form of persecution. I take my hat off to these fearless saints at Repent America as they help each of us to see the dangers that lurk behind our complacency. Let's take a few minutes of our day and give em a call and "politely" register our "concerns".

EMERGENCY ALERT! SEN. TED KENNEDY SNEAKS "HATE CRIMES" BILL INTO CRUCIAL DEFENSE BILL
Repent America (RA) is calling for your immediate attention concerning the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act (S. 1105), which has now been slipped into a military funding bill. Please call your U.S. Senators at 1-877-851-6437 and tell them to vote against Senate Bill 1585, which contains the "hate crimes" language (Amendment 2067). Click here for more info.

What's in A stone?

In the O.T. story of David and Goliath there have been many commentaries written giving reason for such provocative questions like; “How did that stone hit Goliath in his forehead when he had a bronze helmet on” and “why did David pick up 5 stones when he knew God was with him and it would only take A stone?” I suppose you could debate all day and still come up not knowing the answers but then God did say there were things that only He knows and are mysteries to us.

But, what of this ONE stone? It was obviously a divinely directed weapon that had a divine purpose and the results of the stone’s purpose were plain to see on both sides of the battle. I would like to take a minute and do a comparison of the Goliath of the O.T. who was taunting the armies of the Living God, and the goliath’s of today who are doing the same taunting (The Purpose-Driven Paradigm, The Emergent Church, Joel Osteen Ministries, Etc.) I am not naïve enough to think that the Goliath’s of today are just going to roll over and die when hit by A stone, as I am convinced that God is using these Goliaths for His purposes to bring about His goals for His true Body. But I am convinced that there are David’s (watchmen & watchwomen) within today’s church structure who will sling A divine stone for the purpose of rescuing “some” out of the “uncircumcised Philistine” movements of today’s apostate church.

I consider this ONE stone to be the stone of TRUTH. God’s Word teaches much about this stone;
Matthew 21:42-44 Jesus *said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, 'THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES'?
"Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. "And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust."

Jesus adds clarity to this STONE;

John 14:6-7 Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him."

SO, to quickly sum this up; today’s Davids are applying the STONE of TRUTH to the foreheads of today’s Goliaths which will result in "some" seeing the Goliaths for who they really are. Once the “some” see who they really are, they will also see who the real “uncircumcised Philistine” really is (the spirit of anti-christ) and will join the Davids in their fight. There will be casualties along the way because this spirit of anti-christ will not go quietly but for the love of the brethren I don’t see any other option.

Love your brothers and sisters enough to warn them of the danger they are in by simply applying the STONE of TRUTH to the right forehead.

By the way…………this writer believes the 5 stones could represent a picture of the 5 tenets of the faith that every true believer in Jesus Christ must adhere to. The Goliaths are doing all they can to eliminate these 5 tenets and replace them with their own man-centered, worldly dictates. These 5 basic tenets are;

1. It is essential that Word of God be totally inerrant and 100% inspired by the Holy Spirit.
2. It is essential that Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was born of a virgin.
3. It is essential that Jesus Christ, being completely sinless, offered himself as a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and in so doing reconcile sinful man with God.
4. It is essential that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession.
5. It is essential that Jesus Christ worked His miracles while on earth to demonstrate the power of God as evidence of His claim to be God.

The one question you have to ask yourself. Am I type of David or am I a type of Goliath…….you get to make that choice.

OCTOBER.....Oh October!

I receive a weekly update E-Newsletter from a prophetic website called Prophecy News Watch . In it this week was a very provocative article that caught my attention immediately. Give it a read and then keep it in the back of your mind as we move through OCTOBER.

Did Iran's leader predict Armageddon at the UN?

The "Song"

As I have said several times in past posts, "I was awakened again early this morning"........but this time I was agitated within my spirit in a most unusual way. I have been wrestling with the word "October" for several months now and as I was awakened this morning I realized that this is the last day of September..........tomorrow is "October".

Now you may be looking at this and saying "duh"..........but for me whenever things reverberate within my spirit over and over again I tend to sit up and take notice. Two years ago, October of 2005, I sensed an overwhelming message within my spirit, so much so that my wife wrote it down in the front of my bible. This was the message " The season of my warnings is drawing to a close". That was it.........nothing more was given to me. I thought it strange until recently when I was in the middle of a worship service, in the middle of worship, when another message came in such a powerful way that it jolted me from worship and compelled me to write it down. We were singing the song "Still", which I had never heard before so I was having to read the words as I sang. The chorus goes " when the oceans rise and the thunders roar, I will soar with you above the storm. Father, you are king over the flood, I will be still and know you are God." The part that jolted me was "I will soar with you ABOVE the storm"............that's not what the promise was..........it was that He would be with us THROUGH the storm. Now you may be saying that I am being nit-picky with this, but I didn't understand at the time just how profound this was.

About the same time that I was "singing that song", David Wilkerson was giving a message in New York entitled "In one hour, everything is going to change". We receive his monthly newsletter and I sometimes take time to read through it, but this morning it was like I was compelled to read it.........so I did. In it he speaks of a time coming when everything will change in one hour, using scripture from Isaiah, Revelation & 1 Thessalonians. These are all passages that speak of cataclysmic events that could change the face of the world in one hour, and I was familiar with all of that............but the part that reached out and slapped me was toward the end of the message. He was answering the question, "Why such apocalyptic warnings", and the answer struck me right between the eyes. He quoted Jesus speaking a warning to His disciples in John 14:29 " I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it come to pass, you might believe". He was saying, in essence, "when it happens, you'll know there is a God who loves you and forewarned you." David then makes reference to the SONG that will be sung in the midst of the calamity; "This is the hope of our most holy faith; our Lord causes a song to come out of the darkest of times. Start now to build up your holy faith in Him, and learn to praise His majesty quietly in your heart. When you sing your song, it will strengthen and encourage your brothers and sisters. It testify to the world: "Our Lord reigns over the Flood!"

My point in all this is; if we heed the warnings that are given to us (all the things that point to OCTOBER in my case), and spend our time refining our "SONG", then, we will not be looking for an escape from the calamity ("I will soar with you ABOVE the storm"). If we prepare now, we will be a tool used of God to bring in a great harvest of souls that have been singing the wrong "SONG" for so long they believe it's the right one.

Spontaneity

I was awakened early this morning again, as it usually is when God wants to talk, with the word "spontaneity" being at the forefront of my thinking. I have walked with the Lord long enough to realize that words carry great meanings, especially at 4:00 AM. At first I thought it was for the class I am teaching on Evangelism tonight at Changed By Grace Bible College, but then it seemed as though there was a much broader picture here that God was showing me.

As I lay there pondering this word I was compelled to get up and examine the following scripture passage;

Acts 16:9-10 A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

If Paul had not been spontaneous in nature he would have missed the conclusion that God was calling him to preach the gospel in Macedonia because it wasn't in his "day planner".

I truly believe this "spontaneity" is going to be one of the traits that will cause the true church to STAND when it becomes necessary to do so. I also believe that you can judge the level of spontaneity in your own life by the degree you are listening & following the Spirit who is in you. If the Spirit has preeminence in your life you are more apt to move in His direction when He says "move". If you are locked into a "self serving" schedule to where every waking minute is planned out, the chances are very slim that He will be able to "move" you out of something that would be detrimental to your life, or the life of your family/church.

One other thing I saw from this passage that was important; Paul had actually seen the vision, but it says; "When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them". It is obvious here that if Paul had not been completely confident in his God, and His leading, those around him would have possibly talked him out of this hair-brained idea and had him rely upon the "tried & true" plan. If we can say anything about the apostate church it would be that they will be people who are locked into "the traditions of men" and nobody will be able to move them in any direction other than what has been done in the past. Much of what has been done in the past is good, but if that is all that you have then you will lack the ability to "move" in a different direction if so prompted by God's Holy Spirit. This is a very dangerous place to be in a world that is changing minute by minute now. A modern army would not go to war today using spears and clubs.............why is it that Christians will attempt to "fight the good fight" with antiquated weaponry just because it was good enough for grandpa & grandma down there at "Play it Again Sam Community Church".

Let us be people of spontaneity, Spiritually speaking.

P.S. Macedonia was a very strategic place for the spreading of the Gospel up into Europe. If Paul had not been willing to "change the plan" and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, he would have missed the blessings of God and the people of Macedonia would have had to wait for another to come. How many blessings have we missed and how many people are waiting because of our lack of Spiritual spontaneity.

Truth about the TRUTH

The following article was written by Richard Wurmbrand;

TRUTH ABOUT THE TRUTH

How much each one of us can suffer depends on how much he is bound up with a cause, how dear this cause is to him, and how much it means for him.
In this respect we have had in Communist countries very big surprises. There have been gifted preachers and writers of Christian books who have become traitors. The composer of the best hymnal of Romania became the composer of the best communist hymnal of Romania. Everything depends on whether we have remained in the sphere of words or if we are merged with the Divine realities.
God is the Truth. The Bible is the truth about the Truth. Theology is the truth about the truth about the Truth. A good sermon is the truth about the truth about the truth, about the Truth. It is not the Truth. The Truth is God alone. Around this Truth there is a scaffolding of words, of theologies, and of exposition. None of these is of any help in times of suffering. It is only the Truth Himself who is of help, and we have to penetrate through sermons, through theological books, through everything which is ‘words’ and be bound up with the reality of God himself.

I see a key phrase in here that I feel deals with standing firm in Jesus in spite of severe persecution;

Everything depends on whether we have remained in the sphere of words or if we are merged with the Divine realities.

When the time comes, are we going to fully comprehend what "merging with Divine realities" is all about..........or will we remain in the sphere of words and compromise our faith. The "sphere of words", as I see it, is what pseudo salvation is all about. A person will not stand firm if all they have are mere "words"........it takes the reality of "Jesus in them" to be able to do this.

Think about it.

Who's Equipping Who......For What?

Eph 4:11-13 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.


Now, unless I am missing something here, it appears as though Jesus set it up for the saints to be fully equipped to fulfill their destiny given to them by God........ and, there would be a progression of this equipping to bring about a completeness in Christ for each saint. That really doesn't sound all that complicated.........unless the spirit of man gets in the way.


Seems like down through the years since Paul penned the letter to the saints in the church of Ephesus things have gotten a bit complicated.........resulting in a myriad of useless equipping stuff. I believe the first major problem comes from the equippers themselves, those men and women that God has given great responsibility to...... pointing the saints in the right direction so they will be able to "stand firm" when the time comes. Paul emphasized this a little later in his letter;

Eph 6:13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.


The "equippers" have spent endless hours debating everything from "which equippers still exist in the church today"to"who should be the senior equipper"............absolutely pathetic. If we, as equippers, are relying on His Holy Spirit to guide and direct us into all the truth (John 16:13), then it shouldn't be rocket science to have effective equipping. The second major problem would be the equipees.................because of very poor basic training equipping after their salvation experience, many of the saints are following after anyone who will tell them what they want to hear (2 Timothy 4). The results are devastating as we move into the "tumultuous & desperate" times of 2 Timothy 3.


So, this equipper would like to make a suggestion, If you are truly interested in fulfilling your destiny and standing firm in the process, and you know that difficult times lie ahead, why not get the equipping you need from the best equippers on the planet. If you need brain surgery you don't go to a podiatrist for help.............search out your equipping from those who are walking victorious in "tumultuous & desperate" times now. The following links will take you to a study in Philippians where Paul is encouraging the saints to do that very thing;


http://www.theundergrounded.org/observesg.pdf

http://www.theundergrounded.org/index.html click on the link in the bottom right hand corner for a zipped Power Point program if you would like to equip others.



STAND FIRM saints of God.

Train Up The Child...........

As I was listening to Thursday's edition of Crosstalk, "Exodus Mandate Project", I was struck with an ominous statistic;

"Sadly, Moore reports that within the category of public school children that are evangelical and from Bible based families, 70-80% of them are abandoning the church early in their adult years."

70 - 80%.............that's unbelievable............but true. I would encourage every parent to listen to this 50 minute radio broadcast.

One of the areas in "preparing" to stand, is making sure our children and grandchildren have a fighting chance before they are faced with the onslaught of the enemy. Sending "truly BORN AGAIN Christian children" into the government school system is cruel enough when they are young, but subjecting them to the higher education "elite" is a travesty if you don't give them everything possible to "stand firm" in Jesus while attending those Godless institutions. And I do mean GOD-less.

There is a ministry that is designed to help students in this crucial time of life. It is called RECON, a ministry to connect Christian students with mentors who can help keep them spiritually fit for the battle. We are instructed to be "wise as serpents & gentle as doves";

Matthew 10:16 "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. NASB

If you keep this verse in context you will see that Jesus is giving instructions to His disciples before sending them out into a world that was going to eat them alive.......for His name's sake. Before you send your child out into the "higher education world" to be eaten alive......give them some weapons they can use to fight against being one of those 70 - 80%.

Important post on Undergrounded News

There is an important post on the Undergrounded News blog that should be considered.

http://theundergroundednews.blogspot.com/

I THINK I can.......I THINK I can.....

Oh…..the tenacity of that Little Red Steam Engine. He could do it!

Funny……it’s taken me many years to realize that the story of The Little Engine That Could was probably written by someone who had a very low self esteem growing up; or.... maybe by a budding psychologist; or maybe…….just maybe, it was one of the ways our enemy uses to influence the minds of little ones before they have the ability to rationally think things out for themselves.

Now, before you all label me as some kind of kook………..consider what the Word of God says about THINKING.

Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, "Eat and drink!" But his heart is not with you.

1 Corinthians 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise.

1 Corinthians 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.

An interesting side note; in the Bible the word “THINKS” is mentioned 9 times……4 of those 9 were in the first letter written to the Corinthians………go figure. Could it be that the Corinthians had some problems with their THINKING ???? Duh !

Here’s another little ditty that needs to be given some serious thought;

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

That’s right……your mind is not the only place where thoughts are generated. That is why the “battlefield of choice” for our enemy is in the MIND. Before a person is regenerated by God’s Holy Spirit, the control of their lives is predominately in their minds. Part of the seminar I do on Spiritual Warfare is given over to this topic. However, a truly born again individual has the ability to give over the control of their minds to the Holy Spirit & the Word of God;

Romans 12:1-2 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, {which is} your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

This may already be a “no-brainer” to many people, but to sum all this up……..the apostate church is going to be full of “Little Red Steam Engines”………self made men & women who will stop at nothing until they have molded and shaped their “religious institutions” into what they want them to be;

2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but {wanting} to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

Of course, the “theys” really can’t make this happen without the help of the Little Red Steam Engine LEADERSHIP that will be more than willing accomplices to their folly. The Emerging Church movement is a classic example of this, I have linked this Emerging Church Movement to a fascinating site where you can find out all you need to know about this. Stay on the alert for this deadly tactic. Be willing to “take a risk” and confront anything that looks as though it could develop into something deadly.

THINK about it!

Salvation & the Sidwinder Missile

Many years ago when I was a boy, I can remember my father, an electrical engineer, coming home from work and telling me that he was working on a top secret project for the military. He couldn't share details about it but said it was a weapon that could shoot a plane out of the sky with a guided missile. Of course, as a young boy, I was amazed. Years later after the thing had been developed, tested and put into practical application he was able to tell me it was called a Sidewinder Missile that used a heat seeking guidance system to fly up the exhaust of a jet engine and blow up the plane.........wow........how ingenious.

I got to thinking about that time in my life and wondered what that had anything to do with what I am doing today. Then it hit me.......the Sidewinder Missile was designed to take out a target that could do some extensive damage to our military forces. That really has been the goal of wartime anyway.......to come up with ways to take out your enemy before he inflicts damage on you.

Now I want to tie all of this into SALVATION. The whole idea of spiritual warfare is to take out your enemy before he takes you out. Our enemy is Satan and his demonic forces. Any enemy that is worth their salt, so to speak, will develop ways to take out his enemy's major targets (as in the case of the Sidewinder Missile). The major target of Satan's war machine is TRUE SALVATION, because when TRUE SALVATION is put into play he loses some of his forces. Developing strategies to take out this target is what he does best, remember, he is a "crafty schemer". One of the best weapons he has developed is "pseudo salvation", to literally render the person useless in the spiritual war. The person is rendered useless because he or she can't fight a spiritual war without God's Holy Spirit inside of them. The enemy has no respect for your church attendance, or your musical ability on the worship team, or your PhD. in Religious Studies..........and on, and on, and on. He only respects one thing in a person's life.......God's power within.

It is really this simple. TRUE SALVATION is being regenerated through God's Holy Spirit, or Christ In You. PSEUDO SALVATION is simply a decision you (as an individual) make one day, and everything in your life is based on that DECISION. There is no regeneration in a decision, only when a person dies to him or herself and allows God's Holy Spirit within to take control. Without the Holy Spirit's power IN your life, you are cannon fodder for the enemy. If you would like a good, short, periodical to read about this DECISION vs TRUE SALVATION tactic, please send me an E-mail at cppinstitute@windstream.net and ask for it. I can send it to you as an attachment that you can download and read at your leisure. But........if you do nothing else.........please make sure you are operating your Christian walk with TRUE SALVATION......because just as sneaky as the Sidewinder Missile is.........so is your spiritual enemy. The missile blows up the whole plane, with all on board, in a fiery explosion.............PSEUDO SALVATION gives the false impression that you are truly saved.....and blows up your life in hell's fire.

Think about it.

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

1 Pet 1:23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, {that is,} through the living and enduring word of God.

John 14:17 {that is} the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, {but} you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. (emphasis added)

No FEAR

Saints:

I have pasted below a portion of a short study I received from a ministry working in Israel at this very critical time. I found it to be very appropriate for "taking a practical stand" in these difficult days. What was so interesting about it was before he encouraged all to consider this study he shared about the "feel good church" not even being able to consider something like a terrorist attack.........they are too busy "living" to "die". Take a few minutes of your day and go through this short reading & study, it should help all of us prepare to "stand firm" in Jesus.

If you click on the highlighted verses it will take you to a great website study bible.

Read and study Hebrews 2 this morning and then link it together with I John 2. Be quick to notice that being perfected or matured in Abba's love (i.e. Romans 8 mindset) will drive out all fear. And this word to drive out is the same word used to drive out demons in the NT! Abba's love will flush out this fear of death with a forceful entry into your soulish realm, that if you are not renewed to this lifestyle, it will hold you prisoner to a slavery of fear-induced paralysis at every corner! As you understand and get matured in His great love you will know how to conquer terror because you have entered into the no-man's land of Romans chapter 9! It is not about your life but rather giving up your life and salvation if need be...for the awakening among the Jewish people!!!! And it is when you have crossed over into this post-Gethsemane realm of living you are now pre-conditioned and pre-prepared to take on terrorism of all forms in this late hour!

Dependence

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
de·pend·ence /dɪˈpɛndəns/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[di-pen-duhns] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1.
the state of relying on or needing someone or something for aid, support, or the like.

Both Darcie & I were really "brought up short" this weekend in regard to this whole "DEPENDENCE" thing. On Friday morning I went to turn on my computer and it had decided to rebel in the night and would not accept any power from the power source......thus it would not turn on. This morning, 20 minutes before Darcie was going to speak in a church service, her computer rebelled and would not boot up. We both realized, about the same time, how DEPENDENT we had become on these machines. I spent all day Friday & half of Saturday getting our back-up computer configured to where I could even do E-mail and connect to the Internet. Darcie is, at this very moment, having to speak without the help of her pictures she shows as she tells of the testimonies of these persecuted saints.

Now you are probably asking "what's this got to do with anything"..........DEPENDENCE upon anything but God, and His Holy Spirit, is an effort in futility, especially as we move closer to the end of the age. A classic principle that is given by the apostate is being INDEPENDENT in nature. In fact, the word "apostasy" gives a connotation of "a rebellious walking away from the TRUTH to embrace a 'feel good' ideology". Now if we know that the APOSTASY must come first then I believe it would behoove all of us (Darcie & myself included) to become less dependent on this world and it's trappings and become more dependent on God and His Holy Spirit's leading in our lives. I'm not saying that we are to shuck off all the useful things in the world that help us "tell the story", but I am saying we need not become so dependent on those things that we become unable to function without them..........I guess in this case you should have a "Plan B"..............as long as that plan is Holy Spirit given.

I guess the following says it all about this admonition;
Show Spelled Pronunciation[di-pen-duhns]

Knowing your TRUE ENEMY

Saints:

There are several warnings throughout scripture to "be on the alert" or "being watchful", and they are there for an express purpose. One of the scriptural principles relating to standing firm in your faith is knowing who your true enemy is. There are many expressions of evil, violence and deception, but if you take is all back to the root cause you will find a being.........not a religion or an ideology........it's a being. Satan and all of his fallen angels are doing what they do best within the world system (aion GR). If we as true believers intend to stand firm we will need to know the "enemy" and the tactics he uses.

I would highly recommend listening to Crosstalk click here on the August 24th program entitled Islam: America's Trojan Horse. Dr Don Boys does an excellent job in giving a really good overview of Islam and it's intentions for America. He also gives some excellent statistics about the growing appeasement that the apostate church is involved in with Islam and Muslims. I have added Dr. Boy's website to the LINKS section on this blog, it's called Common Sense for Today.

Please consider this as we work together in preparing for the "difficult times" that lie just over the horizon.

2 Timothy 3:1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

And who is my neighbor?

Some very interesting things emerge when you do a word study on the word "neighbor". First, it's mentioned over 100 times in scripture and almost always in reference to how a true believer is supposed to behave in relationship to their neighbors. Jesus had much to say about this issue especially as it referred to ones eternal position (Luke 10:25-37). Most of the New Testament writers also pointed back to this phrase "love your neighbor as yourself". So this got me thinking; how could this have an effect in our practical "standing" for Jesus amongst a hostile worldly culture? I think the most glaring thing that stands out would be; if your neighbor doesn't know (GR. ginsko) Jesus like you know Jesus then chances are they will be hostile towards you if and when times get difficult (as prophesied by brother Paul in 2 Timothy 3).

It may behoove all of us to do a reality check on our own lives in regard to this "loving your neighbor as yourself" thing, this writer included. Who really is my neighbor? Do we really look at them as lost and going to hell? Do we really see their needs, physical & spiritual? Do we care? These are all good questions to ponder as we see these "difficult times" just over the horizon. Also, as stated in the first post, it may behoove all of us to continue to pray for each other in regard to this as well........it's not easy to walk 180 degrees from 2 Timothy 3:2, and following. Check it out for yourselves.


2 Timothy 3:1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

G5467 χαλεπός chalepos
khal-ep-os'
Perhaps from G5465 through the idea of reducing the strength; difficult, that is, dangerous, or (by implication) furious: - fierce, perilous.


Philippians 3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;

G1097 γινώσκω ginōskō
ghin-oce'-ko
A prolonged form of a primary verb; to "know" (absolutely), in a great variety of applications and with many implications (as shown at left, with others not thus clearly expressed): - allow, be aware (of), feel, (have) known (-ledge), perceive, be resolved, can speak, be sure, understand.

First and foremost

As I was in prayer this morning, I felt compelled to add one more element to the CPP Ministries website. Where CPP stands for "Christian Persecution Preparedness" I wanted to give some practical things that most of the existing persecuted church does on a regular basis. Right now in the state of Florida, where I live" we are in a "preparing mode" for the hurricanes that may come our way. We don't know when or where but you still prepare as though it will be in your backyard. It really is the same way with Christian Persecution.........you don't know when or where but you still prepare as though it will be in your own church's backyard.

So, understanding this, I will attempt to put some practical steps to things we are admonished in the Word of God to do. With prayer being first and foremost it really should be a no brainer......but unfortunately it is the one area that is neglected the most in a Christians life. We are instructed to "make the most of our time because the days are evil" (Eph 5:16). The one who "makes the days evil" understands the power behind prayer so he will fill your days with so much stuff that prayer becomes an afterthought. So you need to get creative. My best prayer time is when I am cutting my 5 acres of grass with a 42 inch cut lawnmower...........hours and hours of pretty much mindless toil.........it doesn't take much brain power to steer a stinkin lawn mower. This new blog & post was actually birthed about an hour ago on that very lawnmower. Let this be the "practical" tip of the day.