Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news, and messages by Steve Martin.
Old Video About Jesus' Return Suddenly Going Viral
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An old video of Anne Graham Lotz talking about the end of the world is going viral.
The video, which was posted on Lotz's YouTube channel in 2014, shows Billy Graham's daughter talking about Jesus' return and the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. According to her ministry, she gave the message in 2009 at the National Religious Broadcasters convention.
"They re-established the nation of Israel and the family of nations in May 1948, and that's significant to me because I was born in May 1948," she said. "And I believe that's my generation, and Jesus said the generation that sees that take place is the generation that's going to see His return and I believe ... if I live out my natural lifetime, I will live to see the return of Jesus Christ to this Earth."
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Lou Engle at TheCall, Washington, D.C., August 2008
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Sixteen years ago, Lou Engle started asking the Lord how he could be part of turning America back to God. This John the Baptist-style prophet and intercessor discerned the perils facing our nation before 9/11, before the Great Recession, before this new wave of racial tension—and before the rise of an Islamic terrorist group that is beheading Christians and threatening to "strike America at its heart."
Lou's humble question birthed TheCall, a prayer movement that has gathered hundreds of thousands of believers to stadiums in America for solemn assemblies in the spirit of Joel 2. TheCall is a summons to prayer, fasting, repentance and sacrificial worship that does not advertise bands or promote speakers—but exalts the Lord Jesus Christ.
On April 9, 2016—the 110th anniversary of the Azusa Street outpouring that essentially birthed the modern-day Pentecostal movement—Lou is taking this holy prescription to the Los Angeles Coliseum. The goal is to unite believers in urgent, humble fasting and prayer, seeking the Joel 2 promise that God will pour out His Spirit again. It's noteworthy that this is the same venue where Billy Graham once preached the gospel to 140,000 souls.
TheCall Azusa Now could be the most pivotal of all prayer meetings for Lou, who found Christ during the Jesus Movement—and was mowing lawns and sweeping basements for a living when he says he heard the voice of the Lord speak these words clearly in 1975: "I've called you to be an instrument of revival."
"I began dancing in the room—and that began my journey. That call became more clear in 1984 when I was reading a book called Azusa Street by Frank Bartleman, who prayed and fasted before the Azusa Street Revival. His wife thought he would die," says the 63-year-old revivalist. "I went into days of fasting and one night cried out to the Lord to give me the mantle of Frank Bartleman."
Marked for Prayer
It seems God took him up on his petition. As Lou tells the story, the very night he was crying out for Bartleman's mantle, his friend had a dream in which he saw a big black book with the title "revival." In that dream, his friend opened the book to the inside cover and there was a picture of Frank Bartleman—and his face turned into Lou's face.
"From that moment on, I knew my calling was revival and I was an intercessor for revival. My calling is to fast and pray," Lou told Charisma in his characteristic rough voice. "I am a fire starter in prophetic intercession who calls people into fasting and prayer for breakthroughs with the end goal of seeing the spirit of revival."
Lou entered full-time ministry when Ché Ahn, founding pastor of HRock Church in Pasadena, California, set him in place as his intercessor in 1984. Ché, who is also the founder of Harvest International Ministry and international chancellor of Wagner Leadership Institute, describes Lou as "one of the most amazing prophet-intercessors I've ever met."
"TheCall and mobilizing prayer for revival has been historic," Ché told Charisma. "There has been a turning point. Even though laws haven't changed, the number of abortions is declining almost every year—especially since 2000, when abortion was the primary focus of TheCall D.C. that saw 400,000 people crying out to God."
Ending abortion has been a burden on Lou's heart for decades. In 2004, he founded Justice House of Prayer DC, which is committed to pray for national leaders and seeks spiritual transformation and cultural reformation from the government gate of our nation's capital, and Bound4LIFE. Both ministries were birthed after 50 days and nights of 24/7 prayer and fasting that led a large group of prayer warriors to Washington, D.C., to re-enact a prophetic dream one of the intercessors had during the fast. On Oct. 4, 2004, they stood in a silent siege (Ezek. 4:1-3), wearing red tape with the word "LIFE" written over it, praying for an end to abortion.
This Bound4LIFE grass-roots movement, which seeks to exalt Jesus, see an end to abortion and contend for a great awakening in every sphere of society, has spread like wildfire in the pro-life community, even finding its way to the cover of TIMEmagazine. Although Roe v. Wade still stands, pro-life laws are passing across the nation and a recent Associated Press report reveals abortions have dropped by 12 percent nationwide since 2010.
"Lou has pioneered for a whole generation the reality that we have to stop abortion," says Cindy Jacobs, co-founder of Generals International, a prayer-based organization that works to change lives and transform nations. "History will say Lou was a major voice that was the impetus for abortion to be stopped."
40-Day Fast and a Dream
Perhaps the king of 40-day fasts, Lou is known for fasting as much as he is for prayer. His ministry is marked by prophetic dreams and visions God uses to lead and guide him on each step of his journey. One of those dreams came in 1996 during a 40-day fast inspired by Bill Bright, the late founder of Campus Crusade for Christ (now known as Cru). Bright, who also wrote The Four Spiritual Laws and was the visionary behind the Jesus film, realized that evangelism efforts were not bearing transformational fruit. He called 2 million people to join him in his annual 40-day juice and water fast. Lou responded to the call.
"I had a dream, and I was supposed to be giving a letter to a little boy named Joel. I lost the letter and I was looking for it frantically," recalls Lou, who says he was raised on Derek Prince's book Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting. In Prince's book, the late Bible teacher declared the only answer in the last days would be united fasting and prayer. "I woke up and the Lord just spoke to me: Don't lose Joel's letter. Call the youth of America to fasting and prayer, the book of Joel. Little did I realize I would be calling solemn assemblies."
On Oct. 4, 1997, Lou watched in awe as Promise Keepers, a men's ministry on a mission to ignite and unite men to become warriors who will change their world, assembled 1.4 million men on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. In a subsequent meeting with 600 young people, Lou started proclaiming from Malachi 4:6 that the hearts of the fathers would return to the children, and the hearts of the children would return to the fathers. He says he saw in the Spirit a corresponding move of young people—a John-the-Baptist, Nazarite generation—who would go to the National Mall and fast and pray as the older men had. When that day came, Lou declared prophetically, it would be a sign that America is turning back to God.
Then it happened. In 1999, a woman asked Lou if he had ever considered putting young people on the National Mall like Promise Keepers did two years earlier. When he told her about his proclamation and prophetic insight, the woman wrote him a check for $100,000 to fund what would become Lou's first major solemn assembly. TheCall D.C. hit the mall Sept. 2, 2000, shortly after a dream Lou says he had in which he was overwhelmed with the possibility of America turning back to God.
"In that dream, a scroll rolled down before me, and I read Luke 1:17 to go on before the Lord in the spirit of Elijah and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the rebellious to the wisdom of the righteous," Lou says. "I woke up, and the Lord told me, 'What I'm pouring out is stronger than the rebellion.' I knew TheCall was a John-the-Baptist, Nazarite movement. If TheCall is truly a John-the-Baptist movement, you can bet there's a Jesus Movement coming."
Mike Bickle, director of the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City, got to know Lou when he was at IHOP for five years. Mike told Charisma Lou has a gift for national assignments that galvanize thousands of intercessors and mobilize them to action in a key day. Lou has held TheCall at over 20 sites in America with strategic focuses. For example, TheCall D.C. focused largely on abortion. TheCall Nashville in 2007 focused on the church renewing her marital covenant with the Lord, to repent of her tolerance of Jezebel and to pray for a new Jesus Movement to sweep the nation. TheCall Detroit focused on uniting races and ethnicities to pray as one unified body.
"Only people with these values gather to Lou's voice—people who are desperate for breakthrough and are confident it's coming," Mike says. "Some people are desperate, but they are not confident. Some people are confident, but they are not desperate. Lou brings thousands of desperate, confident people together, and they are encouraged because they are not alone. They see there's an army out there."
Facing Down Goliaths
Lou's ministry moves in a prophetic swirl of sorts, but he's had plenty of spiritual warfare along the way. He's tackled principalities such as Baal and Jezebel and wrestles with the spirit of mammon. In fact, he says funding has always been one of his greatest challenges: "It's hard for people to lock on to funding prayer, but it happens." But he says his feelings of personal failure and weakness are the greatest challenge. Indeed, Lou Engle says his greatest challenge is Lou Engle.
"It's the challenge of having faith when you can't see results," Lou says. "You don't even know people are coming. The enemy lies and says, 'You can't do it.' And yet we have fought through and seen hundreds of thousands gathered. That in itself is a miracle. People say God is not answering the prayers. People criticize prayer rallies. Prayer rallies of 100,000 or 400,000 or 40,000 are the answer because it is the birthing. Prayer has always been the birthday of the great awakenings."
Lou points to the Bright 40-day fast in 2000 as the catalyst for the greatest harvest in America's history to date. After that, day-and-night prayer exploded around the world, the Global Day of Prayer was born, and TheCall was established. Lou believes God has answered Bright's prayers and fasting with a massive proliferation of prayer that's preparing the way for an explosive worldwide outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And Lou's going to keep praying and fasting—and calling others to join him—until he sees it.
"People say we don't see immediate answers to prayer," Lou says. "I tell you, bowls have to be filled, and it might take years until they overflow. Think of the 70 years of people crying out for release from communism. In one moment, the Berlin wall came down. Everything shifts. Give us one moment of revival. God will change everything. I think God is bringing a massive prayer movement as part of the answers to our prayers."
Dutch Sheets, an internationally recognized author, teacher and conference speaker, says he has never met anyone who lives what he preaches and teaches more than Lou, particularly with regard to prayer and fasting. "There's no one more committed to the cause of the Lord, and more specifically, the causes that God has put on his heart: the pro-life issue and awakening and revival," Dutch told Charisma. "Those things have made him so powerful and flow out of who he is. You'll never find a more passionate person than Lou Engle."
Mobilizing Intercessors
Lou will go down in charismatic church history as a general of intercession who mobilized the church to pray; a John-the-Baptist-like prophet who called the nation to repentance; a pro-life leader who understood that the blood of abortion is on our hands; a spiritual warrior who refused to tolerate Jezebel; and, hopefully an instrument of transforming revival.
"What releases the spirit of prayer is the spirit of prophecy," Lou says. "When I tell the story of Azusa, bones start rattling, movement occurs, people begin to pray. I am convinced that the problem is not that there isn't enough prayer. The problem is there's not enough prophetic unction to create the spirit of prayer, or it's the unbelief of the church, (who) won't believe the prophecies until she sees."
James Goll, president of Encounters Network, international director of Prayer Storm and founder of God Encounters Training, compared Lou to Kentucky Fried Chicken—he does one thing and does it right. "Lou Engle is not a show horse—he's a trained racehorse with God-given blinders that hems him in to see the finish line," James told Charisma. "Lou keeps his eyes on the prize to pay the price no matter what the cost. The prize is Jesus."
Lou not only has his eyes on the prize, but he has inserted himself into the storyline. He's standing in the gap and making up the hedge. He's positioned himself as a watchman on the wall. And he is encouraged by what he sees: a growing number of churches across the nation holding 21-day, 30-day and 40-day fasts every year. He's encouraged because he hasn't seen this since Bright led the charge.
"The problem in the church isn't unmotivated people," Lou says. "It's that we're not listening to the right dreamers. When the Israelites were re-establishing the house of prayer when they came back from Babylon, the prophet Zechariah started prophesying, and it stirred the people. We've had 20 years now of storyline that's fueling fasting, fueling prayer. God is in this generational Elijah movement, and I think we're about ready to shift."
Brian Kim, director of the Antioch Center for Training and Sending School of Frontier Missions in Colorado Springs, Colorado, told Charisma Lou embodies the marriage of prayer and prophecy and called him a visionary dreamer in every right.
"I have seen him lead hundreds of thousands in prayer, and I have seen him weeping in prayer in the early hours of the morning when he thought no one was watching, seeking solace in the front seat of his 15-passenger van for lack of a proper prayer closet," Brian says. "I have seen him give literally all he has for the sake of the gospel—and not just one time, but on numerous occasions."
Significance of This Call
Indeed, Lou sold his house in Pasadena to fund Asuza Now, and he's hoping to fill the stadium for the glory of God. Beyond fasting, prayer and worship, Bill Johnson, senior pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California, is joining forces with TheCall Azusa Now to hit the streets with evangelism in the weeks leading up to the main event. The evangelism component marks a shift of strategy toward proclamation of the gospel with the signs and wonders Lou sensed prophetically in 2011.
Leaders in the prayer movement agree that TheCall Azusa Now is significant at a time when America desperately needs revival. God never sends revival without first stirring united prayer.
As James Goll sees it, TheCall Azusa Now is strategic in the life of Lou Engle, which makes it strategic in the life of the nation. "There's going to be grace, grace, grace, grace, and it's a turning point to turn the innie into an outie," James says. "TheCall is going to take us into a modern-day Salvation Army where we are not just doing prayer and fasting in rooms; we are taking it to the streets coupled with the worship and evangelists and gifts of healing and working of miracles. It is a turning point."
Dutch believes God has another outpouring in mind at the Azusa Street level and says TheCall is part of the prayer momentum toward that outpouring. "God wouldn't be moving so sovereignly if there was not hope for this awakening," Dutch says. "TheCall is very significant and will bring great hope."
Mike sees TheCall Azusa Now as important for several reasons. Beyond the 110th anniversary of Azusa Street, he's looking at Lou's 30-year history of blowing the trumpet and gathering people to prayer. "Lou is a class of his own," Mike says. "I don't know of another person who has his resume in the Spirit. That's what makes this significant. That's what gets my attention."
"We are not saying this event will be what brings revival to America," Ché says. "TheCall is one of a number of initiatives for revival. But gathering to humble ourselves and pray and fast and seek His face en masse is especially significant on the 110th anniversary of Azusa Street."
Lou is asking the body of Christ some serious questions: Can you believe with us that denominations will unite, that the races could come together, that God could make us one as the antidote to the terrific division in our day? Could you believe with us for stadium Christianity where signs and wonders are breaking out and mass evangelism explodes across our country—the Third Great Awakening?
"I don't believe that God will fasten our soul to a dead-end vision," Lou says. "I stand in awe of the God who has been faithful to His promises. He will come to us like the rain. Though darkness covers the Earth, the glory of the Lord rises upon us. I pray your heart burns with this faith. Can a nation be saved? I still believe!"
Lou may or may not see 140,000 people fill the Los Angeles Coliseum as they did in Billy Graham's day, but tens of thousands are likely to unite in prayer, fasting and worship, intent on turning America back to God. Cindy Jacobs told Charisma TheCall Azusa Now is one of those events that, 10 years from now, people will say "I was there" or "I wish I had been there."
Jennifer LeClaireis senior editor of Charisma, director of the Awakening House of Prayer, a senior leader of the New Breed Revival Network and author of many books, including Jezebel's Puppets: Exposing the Agenda of False Prophets. Visit her online atjenniferleclaire.org.
Watch the incredible story of how God prophetically orchestrated each step leading up to TheCall Azusa Now at azusanow.charismamag.com.
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Isabél Contreras was the most unlikely person on earth to become a traveling preacher.
Raised in a Catholic family in southern Mexico, she became an atheist at 14, explored satanism during high school and began living la vida loca—the crazy life—when she became an amateur volleyball player. She drank heavily, embraced a lesbian lifestyle and even sold her body as a same-sex prostitute during the three years she lived in Mexico City.
But all that changed when she found Jesus at age 21. No one had to tell her to stop having sex with women. "Immediately the Holy Spirit told me this was wrong," Isabél says.
After her conversion she invited 25 of her athlete friends to a dinner and announced that she was a Christian. "You are welcome to join me," she said, after inviting them to her charismatic church. "Otherwise you can pretend you never knew me. The old Isabél is dead."
Her lesbian friends weren't happy with the drastic change. They even hired a girl to try to seduce her, but Isabél didn't fall for the scheme. "I knew I would never go back into that life," she says. "I knew my decision to follow Jesus was all or nothing."
And thus began an unusual journey for a woman who has become a respected minister in a male-dominated country marked by its machismo. Now 54, Isabél has planted two churches. From her base in La Paz, in the Baja peninsula, she has preached in every state in Mexico and in five other nations.
At the ReeNueva women's conference held in the city of Querétaro last week, her passionate preaching had women cheering—and laughing at her frequent jokes. "Christ is in you!" she shouted. "God put you where you are so you can give people the anointing; Satan and his demons are afraid of that!"
Being a minister is not easy for Isabél, even though she has traveled for 20 years as a prophet and Bible teacher. When she visits a new city she often learns that she's the first woman ever to preach there. Some male pastors have angrily confronted her, telling her that God doesn't anoint women to share the gospel. She usually reminds them of the biblical story of Balaam.
"If a donkey can speak for God, so can I," she says.
Isabél has become popular, especially among women, because she doesn't even try to fit into the Latino cultural mold. She is not a fashionista, for sure. She doesn't wear high heels or fancy dresses. When she stands at a pulpit she typically wears functional work pants, a sweater and a simple key necklace. Her hair isn't styled. And she jokes about her weight—and then reminds people that she recently lost 116 pounds.
"I know what some of you ladies are thinking when you see me," she told the crowd in Querétaro. "You think I look like a dyke. That's OK. I don't care what people think about me. I am going to keep looking at Jesus until I look just like Him."
But it is Isabél's plain appearance and brutal honesty that win her audience. They love that she doesn't have a model's looks. They feel accepted by her, not threatened. So they listen carefully to her testimony and her prophetic teaching.
"God has told me that I'm a sign," she says. "The way I look, the way I am, allows people to feel comfortable with me and they receive what God is saying."
Isabél believes her homosexual struggle began at age 11 when an older girl molested her in a dark closet. But she also believes some women turn to lesbianism because they have been raped or abused by men—and therefore they view sex with men as painful or traumatic. This problem is especially serious in Mexico, where domestic abuse has become an epidemic and the rate of femicide is one of the world's highest.
While Isabél views homosexuality as sin, she has only compassion for people who struggle with same-sex attraction because it is often rooted in abuse. She has counseled countless people who found healing after prayer.
Some church leaders in Mexico believe God is using Isabél in a unique way, not only to offer healing to people who struggle with their sexual identity but also to the entire body of Christ.
"Isabel is breaking paradigms," says Claudia Cupido, co-pastor of Unidad Cristiana, a charismatic megachurch in Querétaro. "It is not often you find the combination of prophetic and teaching ministry that she offers. Now that she speaks freely about her past, she will neutralize the battle that many girls and women are facing."
J. Lee Gradyis the former editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. He is the author of several books including 10 Lies the Church Tells Women, 10 Lies Men Believe, Fearless Daughters of the Bible and The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale. You can learn more about his ministry, The Mordecai Project, atthemordecaiproject.org.
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“I will lift up my eyes to the hills — from whence comes my help? My help
comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2 NKJV)
“Tilt your head up”, I heard
the Voice softly say as I prayed.
As one normally does, I had my
head bowed during my morning prayers, as I sat in my prayer chair in the corner
of our home’s front room. I don’t recall that I was praying for anything real
heavy at the time. But when He spoke, I also had the sensation of a father touching
the chin of their child with their fingers, to lift their head in order to see
into their eyes.
The Lord was telling me to look
up; to see Him; to know that He was in full control.
“He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who
keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber
nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve
you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your
going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.” (Psalm
121:3-8 NKJV)
The Lord’s loving-kindness and
compassion to us are new every morning, as Scripture tells us. His
faithfulness, to hear every prayer, and to speak to our heart, is a promise for
those who take the time to seek Him. Therefore we can have hope and trust in
Him.
“The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for
His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your
faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore
I have hope in Him." The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the
person who seeks Him. It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of
the Lord.” (Lam 3:22-26, NASU)
We can easily get weighted down with the daily cares
of the world. The day in, day out routine, which can be a grind at times, fills
our soul with anxiety. We simply get worn out. That is one of the strategies of
the enemy that opposes us. If we don’t stop and let the Lord Jesus’ yoke become
ours, we will be overcome by it all.
Daily prayer, with reading of the Bible, isn’t an
option we can pick or chose when we want to, or feel like it. It has to be so
normal in our normal lives that when we miss the time with Him, we know that we
have missed it. May it be that our day will not be the same without time with
Him.
I encourage you to make prayer and the reading of
His Word a priority in your life. If it means going to bed a little earlier, so
you can have that quiet time in the morning before the rush is on, then do it. Or
if you are better at night, after things quiet down, then spend this time with
the Lord then. Let Him know that He is a priority in your life. And as for you,
you will be more aware of how you are a priority in His.
He wants to tilt your head up to Him, to look into
His eyes, and know that He is in control.
Now think on this,
Steve Martin
Founder
Love For His People, Inc.
P.S.I would be
most grateful if you'd share this encouraging word with your family and
friends. They might need it. You can easily use the social media icons below.
Thanks! Steve
We are blessed when the ministry receives gifts to support
the families that we do, primarily in Israel, India, Pakistan and the hurting
ones here in the USA. You also can share out of the abundance you have been
given.
Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA humanitarian
organization started in 2010 to share the love of the Father in the nations.
If these messages minister to you, please consider
sending a charitable gift of $5-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us
bless families we know in Israel, whom we consistently help through our
humanitarian ministry. Your tax deductible contributions receive a receipt
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Now Think On This - In the New Year of our Lord 03.09.16 -
#249 –“Tilt Your Head Up” – Wednesday
at 6:30 pm
All previous editions of Now Think On This can
be found on this Blog, and on the website: Now Think On This
Again, I would be most grateful if you'd share this
encouraging word with your family and friends. You can easily use the social media
icons below. Thanks! Steve
Shahid is proof that God is moving powerfully across parts of Muslim-majority Middle East and North Africa.
Shahid (not his real name for security purposes), is from Libya and grew up a devout Muslim.
"As every Libyan, when I was a little boy, I used to go to the Koranic school," Shahid told Leading The Way with Dr. Joseph Youssef, a Christian television and radio ministry that broadcasts in more than 190 countries around the world.
Shahid spent 14 years of his life attending Muslim schools, where a strict interpretation of Islamic jurisprudence was taught. He became an expert in the Koran, even memorizing the entire Muslim holy book.
But the closer he examined the Muslim laws, the more he become disillusioned with what he read.
"Islam was completely exposed with its hidden reality," Shahid said of studying Islam. "Little by little, I had serious concerns about Islam."
To get some answers to his questions, he sought the advice of friends and family. But they told him not to question his faith. They even became hostile.
"They told me there is a verse in the Koran that urges Muslims not to seek answers to questions about some things, as it may hurt them if they know the answers."
The doubt. The questions. The inaccuracies of his faith tormented Shahid.
"I lived in a struggle for more than four years," Shahid told LTW in a video produced by the organization.
Desperate and despondent, Shahid said he decided to abandon the faith of his childhood and become an atheist.
"I got to a point when Islam had no part of my life, and religion ceased to exist and Muhammad meant nothing to me."
It was around this time that Shahid came across Kingdom SAT, Leading The Way's 24-hour satellite channel, which broadcasts across the Muslim world.
With the help of Leading The Way partners in the Middle East, Shahid secretly connected with Christians in Lebanon and Jordon and eventually was introduced to Jesus Christ.
"I learned about who Jesus is and how to be a Christian. We studied how to live with Christ, fellowship with Him, and be part of the church."
After several months of intensive Bible studies, Shahid said he "accepted Jesus' salvation and got baptized."
Inspired with revelation of God's profound love for him, Shahid said he felt compelled to share his new found faith with his countrymen in Libya and others across the region.
"I couldn't keep my mouth shut," Shahid said. "I had to share Jesus with others."
According to LTW, Shahid has been sharing the love of Christ with Muslim followers and many have turned to faith in Christianity.
Two years after leaving Islam, Leading The Way says Shahid has planted 11 churches across North Africa and Europe and is baptizing Muslim converts.
Shahid recently shared a picture with Leading The Way showing him baptizing new converts to Christianity on the same shores of North Africa where the Islamic terror group ISIS beheaded 21 Coptic Christians in February 2015.
Leading The Way's founder and president Dr. Michael Youssef says testimonies like Shahid's and countless others should bring hope and inspiration to the Body of Christ.
"He is a free man," Youssef said of Shahid's testimony. "Most importantly, he is free in Christ!"
Despite the sufferings of Christians, Leading The Way says Shahid's life is one more powerful example of how God is transforming lives across the Middle East and North Africa.
"So to have a monarch who talks openly about Jesus in a very relaxed and natural way, we find that a huge encouragement and hope that Christians across the country will take a leaf out of the queen's book and learn to talk about Jesus in a natural way with friends, relatives and colleagues so people can discover more about what it means to be a follower of Jesus," co-author Catherine Butcher, from HOPE, told premier.org.
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CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME OUT OF NAZARETH? ABSOLUTELY!
Last week, as part of our course for senior pastors, we had a week of intensive study in a hotel in Nazareth for two pastors' classes. And something rather wonderful happened.
Dr. Erez Soref had gone to the hotel to visit with the pastors, but while the classes were in progress, he and a few others were sitting out in lobby. Suddenly, an official-looking lady holding a planner and notebooks appeared, asking for him by name. Erez assumed that she would be from the hotel staff, perhaps needing him to settle a bill, but it turned out that she was a delegate from a different conference about tourism at the same hotel. She had passed by a room full of pastors all talking about God, and wanted to sit in the class and listen.
She said she really wanted to know about God, so one of the pastors suggested that she should go and talk to Erez. So that's what she decided to do. In talking to her, Erez discovered that she was from a nominal Christian Arab family from the local area, and he began to share about God's love, His grace, and the peace that He gives, but she interrupted:
"Wait, but you're Jewish? How come you're talking to me about Jesus?" Then she reasoned, "But Jesus was Jewish wasn't he? So I guess it's OK!"
She knew a little about Jesus, but Erez asked if she would like to get to know Him personally, and she cried a little, and said yes, she would. She had beaten cancer three years ago, but and had recently undergone another round of chemotherapy, which had also been successful, and the cancer was now in remission. She said that God had preserved her, and now she wanted to know Him.
Erez invited her to pray to Jesus according to his invitation in Revelation3:20: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me."
She said to Erez, "You're Jewish, but are there any Arabs here that believe in Jesus?" Erez called one of the Arab pastors over to join them, who was able to share with her in Arabic, her heart language, about the Lord. He explained about the problem of sin, but she said that she didn't sin - that she was a very good person. When her parents had died, she raised her siblings, and had always tried to do her best. Erez asked, "But have you ever wanted something someone else has? Envy something?" Her eyes widened, "Does that count as sin?" Together they discussed the matter, and explained about what sin is, and the One who had the authority to forgive her sins.
Soon she was ready to make a step of faith.
And so a Jewish Messianic believer, an Arab pastor, and the lady from Nazareth who wanted to come to Yeshua for forgiveness, all held hands as the Arab brother led her through a prayer to faith, from sin to repentance.
She sobbed as they encouraged her, and invited her to have lunch with them all. She sat with the group of Jewish and Arab pastors together, some of whom had churches right there in Nazareth, where she lives. She is now attending one of those churches, and has great hunger to grow in the Lord and to know Him. Please pray for our new sister from Nazareth as she starts out in her new life with Jesus, in His home town.
