Prophet: Don't Let the Religious Grinch Steal Your Holiday Joy! - R. LOREN SANDFORD CHARISMA NEWS

Screenshot from "The Grinch" official trailer (YouTube/FilmSelect Trailer)

Prophet: Don't Let the Religious Grinch Steal Your Holiday Joy!

12/9/2018 R. LOREN SANDFORD  CHARISMA NEWS

The holiday season! And the Grinch inevitably shows his face. There are the politically correct police on the liberal side and the religious police on the religious side. Each one wants to tell us that we shouldn't celebrate these holidays lest we either offend someone or engage in unholy activity.

So, according to the PC police, we can't celebrate Thanksgiving because it hearkens to the European invasion of the American continent and the genocide of Native Americans (and I am both of European ancestry and am a member of the Osage Nation). According to the religious police, we can't celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus because before we co-opted it, the Roman pagans celebrated that day as dedicated to the worship of a false god. Easter is gone, too, as a time to remember the resurrection of Jesus, because both the word "Easter" and the date are drawn from the worship of Ishtar, goddess of light and truth. According to some, we're all sinners if we worship on Sunday instead of Saturday and because we Gentile Christians don't keep the feasts of Israel. On and on it goes. Someone needs to read Romans 14:5-6a: "One man judges one day above another; another judges every day alike. Let each one be fully persuaded in his own mind. He who observes the day observes it for the Lord, and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. 

Please, people, each day is what we make it. Every day is the Lord's. The earth is the Lord's and all that is contained therein. I will surrender nothing to the devil. Whether or not a day was once a day dedicated to idolatry or had a history of genocide, it still belongs to the Lord, and I will make it what I desire to make it for Him. I will celebrate Thanksgiving as a time to honor God for His gifts and to take the lonely into our family celebration for the sake of love. How it started is of no consequence. What matters is what we fill it with today. I will celebrate the other historic Christian holidays as unto the Lord, regardless of a history of abuse or conflicts of calendar, and I will count it all as a slap in the face to the enemy of my soul who tried to claim those days as his own.

As for Christmas, what an incredible time of year when hearts are softened to receive what we believers have to give. What an incredible time to reach people with the truth of God become flesh to dwell among us. At no other time of the year are people so open to hear what we have been given as the gift of a loving Father. Why would we want to waste it by barricading ourselves in self-righteous isolation while the rest of the world stands open to receive the Father's gift of love? Never mind the materialistic greed the world falls into. Let us give gifts of love to one another and to outsiders as the wise men gave gifts to Jesus. Let's lose the religious spirit, the Grinch who masquerades as holiness, and use the opportunity the season affords us for the kingdom of God and the glory of Jesus. 

R. Loren Sandford is an author, musician and the founder and senior pastor of New Song Church and Ministries in Denver, Colorado. He has a bachelor's degree in music and a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary. In addition to pastoring, Sandford has an international teaching and worship ministry. Married since 1972, he and his wife, Beth, have two daughters and one son. They live in Denver, Colorado.

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Destroying the Lie That Plunges You Into Depression - R. LOREN SANDFORD CHARISMA MAGAZINE

This lie's cycle only brings you further and further into despair. (Pexels)

Destroying the Lie That Plunges You Into Depression

 3/28/2017 R. LOREN SANDFORD  CHARISMA MAGAZINE

By the time I reached adulthood, I had become convinced that God couldn't bless me because I had all the wrong feelings.

Because I suffered from depression and couldn't feel all those positive, joyful emotions no matter how hard I tried, and because I could not generate an emotion of expectation that God would do great things for me, I believed God couldn't favor me. Everything I heard all around me in renewal circles reinforced that sense. I was told repeatedly by many well-meaning people that my emotions were all wrong and that as long as I felt that way, hurting and depressed, I was expressing unbelief. If I had the wrong feelings, God's work in my life would be restricted. I would reap destruction.

To counter this, we were taught to confess this and confess that, as if our words could create the reality that our inward faith could not. At root, the question wasn't, "How can I trust the Father who loves me?", but rather, "How can I get God to move on my behalf?"—as if He really didn't want to and had to be coerced.

This was the dark place where I lived imprisoned for more than five decades, believing that because I couldn't seem to feel the way I was supposed to feel, God withheld blessing. It would be difficult to express how much energy I invested in trying to push all that hurt aside so I could keep it under control, function in life and do what I had to do.

Looking back, I realized my feelings had never had anything at all to do with God's ability or willingness to bless and prosper me. What counted was His love, not my emotional condition or any failure of mine.

I realized, even in the face of my failure, that my Father God had given me a wonderful wife. Together, we had produced three awesome children, all of whom serve the Lord today together with their spouses. We bought our first home because of a miracle of provision. I planted our first church in the panhandle of Idaho and pastored it for eleven years. These miracles of provision had nothing to do with what I felt or didn't feel.

God's love and favor would not be held hostage by my human condition. Through it all, I confessed all the wrong things, felt all the wrong things, feared all the wrong things, and lived day to day in clinical depression. There are no wrong feelings in faith, only wrong actions. God's love passes understanding and will not be held hostage by my emotional state or my limited, fleshly ability to believe.

Looking back on all this, I know beyond a doubt that faith can never be defined as a measurable quantity, so that if you have enough of it, then God has to move, and if you don't have enough of it, then He doesn't have to move—or won't.

Can you imagine the God who defines Himself as love saying, "Well, you need five pounds of faith for Me to move, but you have only four and a half, so I can't do anything for you"? The real effect of my lack of faith was only to plunge me unnecessarily into depression.

Faith lies in the act of obedience, in the position in which you place yourself in response to the call and command of God. Fear becomes unbelief and lack of faith only when acted upon. Depression constitutes unbelief only when you obey the urge to isolate from others, choose to abandon your calling in life, or both.

The quality of my life and destiny in the Lord through all those years of clinical depression stood because most of the time I determined to refuse to act on fear, depression and negative feelings. I chose instead to obey God no matter what I felt. Certainly I failed—and often— but God continued to bless me even when I stumbled.

Stop being imprisoned in a form of salvation by works in which you strive to generate a set of feelings you call "faith." Rather, choose to act in obedience, regardless of the condition of your heart, and to seek rest in a revelation of the true nature of the Father who loves you beyond your capacity to understand.

Striving will always bring the disappointment so many of us feel. Grace brings the revelation of who our wonderful Trinitarian God really is. Therein lies freedom and a depth of satisfaction that goes beyond words. 

R. Loren Sandford is an author, musician and the founder and senior pastor of New Song Church and Ministries in Denver, Colorado. He has a bachelor's degree in music and a master of divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. In addition to pastoring, Sandford has an international teaching and worship ministry. Married since 1972, he and his wife, Beth, have two daughters and one son. They live in Denver, Colorado. This passage is an excerpt from his book, Yes, There's More.

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The Micaiah Problem: Who Speaks the Truth? - R. LOREN SANDFORD CHARISMA MAGAZINE

Shouldn't we be listening to those who speak truth, which is not winning them a platform of widespread popularity? (Lightstock )

The Micaiah Problem: Who Speaks the Truth?

 11/17/2015 R. LOREN SANDFORD

In my travels and online, I am encountering increasing numbers of people disillusioned with the prophetic movement. There have been too many prophecies unfulfilled, dates set and missed, catastrophic events that never happened, promises that didn't unfold, moral failings on the part of some prophetic leaders and a growing number biblical imbalances.

All of this is taking an increasing toll on confidence in the prophetic gift and it has led some to begin to think that the prophetic gift is not for today. Too much of the prophetic movement has gotten it wrong or wandered off base. Credibility has been eroded.

Consider, however, 1 Kings 22 when kings Jehoshaphat and Ahab convened 400 prophets to seek the will of the Lord concerning engaging in battle to retake Ramoth-Gilead from Aram. Four hundred prophets read the desire in the hearts of the kings, listened to a deceiving spirit (22:22-23) and told them what they wanted to hear, "Go up to Ramoth-Gilead and prosper, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king."

In his spirit, Micaiah alone knew the truth, but initially spoke in unison with the 400. Only when Jehoshaphat commanded him to do so did he relent and speak what he really knew. "I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep which have no shepherd. And the Lord said, 'These have no master. Let each of them return to his house in peace'" (22:17). He continued, "Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. The Lord said, 'Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?' And one said this while another said that'" (22:19-20).

Apparently, a prophetic movement was underway in Israel such that 400 so-called prophets could hold a convention. Who in that day who truly heard God's voice would have had the courage or the confidence to disagree with the dominant stream, especially with a word that didn't sound particularly encouraging? Micaiah stood alone against two kings and 400 acclaimed prophetic voices only to suffer humiliation when Zedekiah slapped his face for not joining with the majority (22:24). He then found himself imprisoned and fed sparingly on bread and water (22:27).

Ultimately, 400 "prophets" had it wrong, Israel suffered defeat and Ahab was killed, but regardless of consequences to Ahab and the army because of their inaccurate words, Israel didn't scuttle prophecy as a ministry because 400 blew it. Because one prophet had it right, prophecy remained a valid ministry in Israel and, later, in the church. It would seem that the key lies not in how many are speaking a particular word, but in discernment to know who is actually speaking from God's heart. Do we have a dearth of real discernment in the church today? Are we too ready to hear only what excites us and what we want to hear? Have we relegated true prophetic voices, ever the minority, to the sidelines and locked them up because they don't speak with the voice of the majority?

Repeatedly throughout history, there have been occasions and seasons when the truth has rested not with the dominant word being spoken by the majority, but with the less popular minority. These are seldom respected or well known, sometimes until after their deaths. They threw Jeremiah down a well and disregarded his words. Elijah was called the troubler of Israel. And so it went!

Maybe we need to stop listening so intently to the popular voices who speak with the mainstream and whose words we love to hear. Could it be that a purified remnant speaks a plumb line word that doesn't win them the platform of widespread popularity? Can we discern the word of God in a hidden but emerging generation of prophetic voices who might not speak what we want to hear, but who certainly speak what we need to hear? In doing so, might we be more edified and more prepared for the glory to come in the midst of a gathering darkness? 

R. Loren Sandford is the senior pastor of New Song Church and Ministries in Denver, Colorado. He has a bachelor's degree in music and a master of divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. He has authored a number of books, includingUnderstanding Prophetic People: Blessings and Problems with the Prophetic Gift,Visions of the Coming Days: What to Look for and How to Prepare and his most recent, Yes There's More: A Return to Childlike Faith and a Deeper Experience of God.

Visit Loren Sandford online at newsongchurchandministries.org.

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Yes, There is More Than This! - R. Loren Sandford

Yes, There is More Than This!

 5/10/2015 R. LOREN SANDFORD  charisma magazine

Are you looking for an experience or to develop intimacy with Christ? (Lightstock )

It seems to me that the goal of some has shifted from seeking intimacy to seeking to be supernatural. I've learned the hard way in a lifetime of exposure to the things of the Spirit that if your goal is to be supernatural, then you'll end up shipwrecked.

If, however, your goal is intimacy with the Father and you hunger for His nature and character to be your own, then you'll end up being supernatural.

This subtle shift of focus on so many fronts has created a growing sense of disappointment in an increasing number of people. The same sense of disappointment is gradually taking root in the so-called seeker sensitive churches, which have not been part of the flow of revival. Even there, hearts are crying out, "There must be something more than this!"

As 2013 came to a close, the youth group at our church began to see an influx of young people from a fast-growing megachurch in the Denver metro area, all saying, "I need more. I'm tired of the emptiness over there. It's not enough!"

Excerpts from some emails I received illustrate well what I am hearing on a broad spectrum. See if something doesn't cry out, "that's me!" when you read this one.

This person wrote: "I'm 'sick' of all the me/focused 'worship' music and the whole 'me getting my feeling' emphasis, along with all the hoops to keep jumping through, along with the latest 'prophetic' word/vision stuff—and not to leave out the 'alignment' movement. More hoops! There I said it! It is time to get back to the Word, Christ-like character, and the Great Commission and kick all the latest charismatic-gimmick hoops aside. Isn't it time to seek the genuine blessings of the Spirit and thresh out the chaff?'

What we once did in innocence, obeying the sweet moving of the Spirit, we now make into methods, structures, impartations, and alignments. But Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:3). There's the secret!

The answer to our hunger comes not from a focus on receiving from God, although we'll never stop receiving. We serve a giving God, a loving Father, and one of the highest forms of praise we can offer Him is to gratefully receive what He sends.

A growing number of believers, however, are coming to understand that the balm to soothe our growing ache focuses not on what we are getting or receiving but on what we're becoming. It's about the impartation of the Father's heart, nature, and character in us until we truly can be called sons and daughters of God who, from the deepest reaches of the heart, radiate who our Father is. Therein lies the second part of the message of the Father's love.

John 1:12 says, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God. In Hebrew linguistic usage, to be a "son of" or a "child of" something is to resemble that thing in a significant way. Romans 8:19 applies the usage as well: "For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God."

I see a developing movement focused on impartation of the nature of the Father in character, disposition, heart, and spirit. It is a time of conformity to "the image of His Son" (Rom. 8:29). It has nothing to do with religious legalism or performance and everything to do with transformation of character from the inside out until we have the Father's heart as our own.

God's heart, then, would be to move us in this season from the remedial to the transformational, from receiving to becoming, so that we could exude the nature of the Father and the world would see and know Him by what they see and sense in us.

We're not living for an experience. We're living for oneness with our Father through our Savior, Jesus Christ in heart, character, and spirit. There lies the substance we long for. It leads to a greater intimacy with the heart of the Father than we have ever known.

Adapted from Yes, There's More by R. Loren Sandford, copyright 2015, published by Charisma House. Are you hungry to experience more of what God has actually promised? Ultimately, the solution can be found only in the deeper understanding of the Father's heart. In this book Pastor Sandford shares how to return to childlike faith and a deeper experience of God. His topics include but are not limited to the difference between faith and feelings, the intimacy that comes from being God's friend, the importance of aligning yourself with Him in prayer, and the correct understanding of grace. To order your copy click here.

Prayer Power for the Week of May 11, 2015

This week, pray that the Lord would continue His transforming work in your heart so that you would carry His presence and reflect the image of Christ in a dark and dying world. Continue to pray for open doors to share the gospel and be a blessing to those who desperately need Christ.

Pray that we, as the body of Christ, would unite in prayer and purpose for the persecuted church and worldwide revival. Remember those victimized by street violence, earthquakes and other natural disasters. Pray that Israel and our own nation will fulfill God's plan and purpose in this season (Rom. 8:29; 12:1-3; 2 Cor. 3:18).

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Words of the Prophets: What is God Saying to America?

 5/1/2015 CINDY JACOBS  charisma magazine

(© Istockphot/ZU_09)

Amid a growing consensus that America's future is in peril, Charisma asked several faith leaders with prophetic gifts what they believe God's message is for the church and the nation as it experiences an escalating series of "shakings." These four individuals—Cindy Jacobs, Paul McGuire, R. Loren Sandford and Hubert Synn—agree that America is facing turbulent times ahead. Simultaneously, though, they believe there is still a great deal of hope, and if the church truly repents and returns to God, that America could experience the greatest awakening in its history.

What Is God Saying to America?
By Cindy Jacobs

It doesn't take a prophet to know that our nation is at a significant crossroads.

With so many voices swirling around and the news full of its own forecasts and predictions, what is the Holy Spirit saying to His people above the fray and noise? Since 1999, a group of respected prophets called the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders has met annually to ask this very question of the Lord.

For several years, the news was not good. Words from before 2008 were that, depending upon what happened in the next elections, America was on the brink of losing a measure of greatness in the world as a leader. Almost a year before the 2008 economic shaking, we knew that there would be "no more business as usual."

Then, before the 2012 elections, we heard some good news—that God was going to give us a chance to regain what was lost.

In the years since then, the prophetic words have spoken both warnings about more coming shakings and promises of the spiritual renewal God wants to bring to our nation.

We received warnings of potential terrorist attacks, which were realized with the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, as well as warnings about racial tensions escalating and cities burning from riots, which also proved accurate over the past year.

At the same time, the Holy Spirit revealed that we are on the verge of another Great Awakening and Jesus People movement. We are in a season of contrasts; in other words, the light will be very light and the dark very dark.

So what is God speaking right now about the future of the nation?

We know that more shakings are coming, and we have also heard that there are more terrorist "sleeper cells" spreading out across the nation. Economically, there are some turbulent times ahead, although they can be lessened through the prayers of the saints.

Women will determine the next election, and Asians will be the swing vote. The states will polarize on an even greater level, and some will threaten to break with the union if their state constitutions are violated.

Pastors will be increasingly pressured by out-of-control courts to preach only part of the Word; some will stand before the courts of the nation as a result. However, this will wake up the church to her finest days as she finds her voice in the governmental arena once again.

Threats from all types of radical extremist groups will be posed against Christian leaders, resulting in a shifting and sifting of hearts as some will compromise to avoid persecution.

Those who do not compromise, though, will find their churches aflame with the power of the Holy Spirit as the new "not ashamed" generation of millennials takes the field.

Colleges and universities will experience major moves of God. Even now, we are in the beginning stages of the next Great Awakening. Prayer is being mobilized on college campuses, and young revivalists are preaching across the land.

God does not reveal these things to cause us fear or discouragement; rather, He invites us to partner with Him as He fulfills His purpose for our nation. Let the warnings move you to pray, and let the promises move you to hope.

Will Fires of Revival Burn Again? 
By Paul McGuire

As a teacher and author on Bible prophecy, the No. 1 question I get asked is: "Where is America in Bible prophecy?"

The general consensus from a significant number of teachers in Bible prophecy is that America is in a state of irreversible decline and may no longer exist in the near future as a separate and independent sovereign nation.

One of the primary arguments for that is that America is not named specifically by name in the prophetic Scriptures. In addition, America is in the greatest crisis it has ever been in.

The majority of believers in our nation fall into three basic categories. First, the largest percentage are ignorant of the depth and danger of the crisis. They are, as it has been said, in "la-la land." The second group of Christians believe America is in a free fall due to the long list of sins committed by the church and nation. The third group of believers are those who truly recognize the great peril we are in, but believe if a "remnant" of believers will "stand in the gap," engage in true intercessory prayer and cry out to God, that the Lord is willing to send to whatever degree He chooses, revival, mercy and a temporal restoration to our nation. I use the word temporal because at some point on the prophetic timeline the coming global economic, political and religious system that will be headed up the Antichrist and the False Prophet will emerge.

On July 4, 2012, I was praying and interceding for America with my wife in our home in Southern California when I experienced what can only be described as a supernatural vision from God that began immediately after I began to repent for my sins and repent for the sins of the church as an intercessor.

I want to be very precise about what I am about to share in terms of the use of my terminology. First, even though I was saved during the Jesus movement of the 1970s and took part in the charismatic renewal movement, I have what I would call "inspired imaginations or pictures from the Holy Spirit," but rarely if ever what I would technically classify as a vision.

Therefore, I do not use the term glibly. Secondly, even though I have experienced being "set on fire by the Holy Spirit," the burning fire of the Spirit that came upon me immediately after repenting was of an entirely different dimension than anything I had ever experienced before.

Immediately after repenting, my body and hands began to burn with a heat so intense that I could not understand why my flesh was not burning.

The next thing I knew I was looking down upon the North American continent from a satellite point of view and I saw the fires of a genuine revival break out in California. Then, as these fires spread, a supernatural and other-worldly golden glow began to move slowly from the West Coast to the East Coast.

I could see millions of people's faces being illuminated by this heavenly light and I heard the Lord say, "My people are rising in prayer." This divine light represented some kind of biblical revival and Great Awakening. The Lord spoke to my heart and said that it was not His will for America to be destroyed, but His righteous conditions must be met. The Lord impressed upon me that if the "remnant" truly repented and cried out that He would send revival.

However, the promise of revival was contingent on this act of obedience to the call for genuine repentance by at least some percentage of His church. The Lord spoke to my heart one day and said to me, "The cities of America will either burn with the fires of revival or the fires of race wars and destruction."  

Can America Be Saved? 
By R. Loren Sandford

Whether or not America can be saved rests squarely in the hands of the church.

God agreed to Abraham's plea to spare Sodom if just 10 righteous men could be found. Are we such a people? Righteousness implies a respect for the moral laws and principles articulated in God's Word.

As the influence of godless secular culture has invaded the church, however, we have seen a gradual erosion, not only of the morality of those who call themselves Christian, but of foundational historic theology. We need a massive move of repentance, beginning in the church, but repentance begins with a consciousness of sin, something increasingly missing, both in the surrounding culture and in the church.

Both the First and Second Great Awakenings in America began with repentance. Even as the masses fell into immorality, the nation shared an understanding of moral right and wrong and therefore knew what to return to when conviction came. Repentance made sense to them. Such a cultural agreement concerning moral right and wrong no longer exists.

A time is coming when increasing numbers of people will be crying out in pain as the lifestyles they've chosen inevitably fail. At such times people seek answers. Will the church then appear as a glowing beacon of light, a place of healing and restoration? Or as a dark wall of condemnation? Will we present a doorway to a better life? Or falsely affirm the sin that produced their misery to begin with—and all in the name of "grace"?

I know from experience that the closer one comes to the holiness, glory and goodness of God, the more clearly that which is unholy and unclean stands out. In that light, the Holy Spirit reveals sin for what it is. My job is to love; His is to convict, and I've seen it work time after time.

As the sinner draws nearer to the radiant goodness of God exhibited in and through His people, light exposes darkness.

When darkness is clearly revealed, conviction falls, lives change and people are healed. America can be saved as Christians lovingly radiate the glow of the goodness of the Father's heart.

Will the church as a whole step up to the plate in this crucial time?

Will we be that beacon of inviting light that draws the hurting to repentance and healing?

Will America be saved? The answer lies with us.

The Signs of Shaking Are Evident 
By Hubert Synn

The history of America is a phenomenon. In less than 300 years since its inception, this young nation has accomplished what no other nation has been able to accomplish in a similar time frame: ascend to an industrial, economic and political world power; achieve reserve currency status; and be regarded as a universal symbol of prosperity.

America was founded as "one nation under God." God was morally and spiritually intertwined with our society, with evidence of sincere faith woven into the Constitution, Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem.

Scriptural mottos were displayed in government buildings and inscribed onto our currency. Sadly, our culture has steadily removed God as the anchor of this nation and the Bible as our standard for living. Christians are increasingly persecuted. The depth of moral and spiritual division and decline in this country grieves my spirit. Today, America is a country, but no longer one, indivisible nation under God.

As I wake up in the morning these days, I sense an uneasiness, the kind of uneasiness where you expect something bad to happen. The signs of shaking are evident in both national and global current events. When I spend time with the Lord, I am led to pray for our country like I have never done before. America is almost at the breaking point where it cannot halt the slide of what is going to come. As I have been praying for America, the Holy Spirit has shown me how the blessing of His hand over this nation enabled its rapid ascent to greatness, but the removal of His hand will result in a rapid decline into weakness. The Holy Spirit has told me the following:

The Lord wants us to know that as we continue along the path we are going, things are going to start to change rapidly. The successes we have enjoyed in so many things will start to turn the opposite way. The crops we rely on will not be as fruitful as they have been in the past. The change in the seasons will not be the same as it always has been as a gradual change. The changes will be abrupt. As my people continue to be persecuted and mocked there will be repercussions. His hand which has been on the land will be removed like it has never been before. The prosperity will be pulled back and the whole nation's outlook will change. For as He has been removed from our land He will remove His hand from holding America, and she will be on the same playing field as other nations. For the time she was a powerful leader, she will become a weaker nation and will have to rely on other nations for her needs.

I do, however, still have hope regarding the future of America. The way in which God supernaturally orchestrated my meeting with Rabbi Jonathan Cahn at an airport to bring forth the message of The Harbinger shows me He still cares for us. He wanted His warning to be heard loud and clear. Let's all pray for a spiritual awakening, accompanied by repentance and humility.

Pockets of true revival are breaking out across America. Want to know more about the next great move of God? Click here to see Jennifer LeClaire's new book, featuring Dutch Sheets, Reinhard Bonnke, Jonathan Cahn, Billy Graham and others.

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Prophetess Cindy Jacobs proclaims a prophetic word concerning the year 2015 at2015prophecy.charismamag.com.

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Prophetic Wisdom for Braving the Coming Storm - R. LOREN SANDFORD

Prophetic Wisdom for Braving the Coming Storm

11/4/2014 R. LOREN SANDFORD

U.S. Capitol Building (Flickr/Roman Boed)

I have been hesitant to release this publicly since I began sensing it some months ago, but I feel that at this point I must. Christians must be forewarned and positioned to be peacemakers, reconcilers and purveyors of hope in the face of the trouble to come.

I have long known that at some point Barack Obama would face a crisis to his presidency that would rock the nation. I expected it in the third year of his administration, but I confess that I've never been good at hearing specific dates from the Lord. I now expect it beginning in the third and into the fourth years of his second term. Many issues have already surfaced, as have many scandals that would have sunk any previous president, but so far none of these has seemed to coalesce into something worthy of "crisis." Witness the Fast and Furious debacle, the truth of what actually happened at Benghazi that is now surfacing via those who were on the ground during the attack, the scandals surrounding the Secret Service (from soliciting prostitutes to incompetence that allowed a runner to get all the way into the White House), as well as the IRS scandal and the resignation of its director, Lois Lerner. It has been a growing list. I have sensed with some dread that, in these last two years of the current administration, corruption will be exposed and turmoil will erupt at such a level and depth that we simply won't know how to deal with it.

It would be a mistake to make the president responsible for all of this, although he bears a significant portion of the responsibility, as do his predecessors. No matter what anyone tries to make of it, know that this is not a racial crisis, but rather a crisis of fundamental integrity, and that it extends to both sides of the congressional aisle. What is coming is the culmination of decades of erosion in the moral fiber of the nation, our rejection of God, of godly principles and the relentless pressure of a culture of self that leads us to vote for whoever promises to give us the most at the expense of personal responsibility. Additionally, we increasingly tend to elect those who advocate immorality in the name of individual rights and freedoms. In the end, God's ways work and man's ways don't, but mankind has always had a difficult time accepting this as truth.

The enemy of our soul has always been an opportunist who stands ever ready to fill the vacuum left by godly people who either abandon the biblical standard or neglect to stand forth and pay the price that raising the prophetic cry against immorality and corruption exacts. Charismatic and evangelical Christians, committed to the historic faith, will pay an ever higher price for our stand in the days to come. How we choose to respond will make the difference between being permanently marginalized on the one hand or walking in victory on the other (and ultimately enjoying favor with God and man) in the midst of a time of increasing turmoil.

It's time to play our role as prophetic Daniels to our Nebuchadnezzars and as Josephs to our Pharaohs. As they did, we can become assets to a lost world, demonstrating the love and power that flow from our Savior and our Father God without compromising our integrity or entering into idolatry. It's time to position ourselves to receive and minister to a growing stream of the hurting and the broken without judgment, condemnation or bitterness. More than ever, it will be love and grace that win the lost, not cries of judgment and destruction. It's time for us to shine.

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Love For His People Editor's Note: On Oct. 30 I shared my thoughts about the need for Christians to stand strong, in my NOW THINK ON THIS message, "No More Restraints?" - in reference to Christians standing for what is right against the falling walls that once stood on a strong foundation here in America. 

You can read that here: Now Think On This blog or see the message on this blog or the link to all my Now Think On This messages in the left hand column. 

Steve Martin, Editor

Prophetic Word: A Fresh Pulse Is Coming - CHARISMA

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Prophetic Word: A Fresh Pulse Is Coming

6/10/2014 R. LOREN SANDFORD

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Most revivals seem to happen as "suddenlies" when a group of people find themselves ambushed by an overpowering outbreak of the Spirit. While we will continue to see pockets of this in coming days, the broader thing I sense coming is probably not a "suddenly" but more of a gradual rising of ground water that finally overflows, or a settling much deeper into the Father's heart in Jesus over a period of time.

As such, it will ultimately be more powerful and more lasting, although less sensational in its outward manifestations. If we are absorbed in praying for the "suddenly," longing for the old manifestations and in trying to make revival happen, we may miss what God chooses to pour out. Seldom is that a repeat of something old. God does love "new wine," and I will take Him in whatever flavor He chooses to send, now or in the future. Meanwhile, I can feel that groundwater rising.

For many of us, this will necessitate a refocus of faith and spiritual hunger. In two of my books I've stated that if you focus on being supernatural you will end up in shipwreck, but that if you focus on intimacy with the Father you will end up being supernatural. You can seek an experience and find delusion, or you can seek intimate relationship with the living God and find an experience.

This calls for a simplicity we too often seem to have lost. Unless you become as a child in simple receptive innocence you cannot enter the kingdom of God (Matthew 18:3). I can therefore no longer subscribe, for example, to the assumption that revival comes by studying how to bring about healing, or any other outbreak, by following certain methods or steps.

We can learn to preserve a good thing God has already sent by studying how to steward the anointing well, but no study of the method or effort at applying it can make it actually happen. Likewise, prophetic conferences and prophetic schools do not produce prophetic people, but rather refine and discipline those who already carry prophetic gifts.

I suggest that many of us have made our spiritual lives just too complicated and have striven to become supernatural at the expense of simple intimacy with the Father and of solid grounding in Scripture. For me and for many others, the result has been disappointing. God has more for us!

For those in position to receive it in the childlike simplicity Jesus called for, a new and wonderful pulse of the Spirit is rising, an anointing sweeter, deeper and more powerful than anything we've known.

It will spell the end of hype, as well as of much of the discrediting nonsense that has too often dominated the landscape in recent decades. While it will touch some established and well-known spiritual centers, it will be especially notable for the rise of many who have been held back and hidden for many years.

It will include young and powerful emerging leaders alongside some older ones, all filled with a simple and even sensible passion for God and His eternal truth. I'm filled with anticipation to see what it will all look like. Meanwhile, seek simple intimacy with our Father and our Savior and take care for solid Scriptural grounding. Then expect great things!

R. Loren Sandford is the founder and senior pastor of New Song Church and Ministries in Denver. He is a songwriter, recording artist and worship leader, as well as the author of several books, including Understanding Prophetic People, The Prophetic Church and his latest, Visions of the Coming Days: What to Look for and How to Prepare, which are available with other resources at the church's website.

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Prophetic Words Point to Move of Spirit in Ukraine - R. LOREN SANDFORD

Prophetic Words Point to Move of Spirit in Ukraine - CHARISMA NEWS

3/12/2014 R. LOREN SANDFORD

R. Loren Sandford

I feel compelled to call for intense and concentrated prayer for the situation inUkraine.

On the surface, it may appear to be only a political struggle between those who desire closer ties with Russia and those who want to integrate more closely with Europe. Having spent many weeks over a seven-year period ministering in Ukraine in both the eastern and western regions, I believe I can say with some certainty that a majority of Ukrainians in both the east and west do not desire a close alignment with Russia.

That being said, the real battle isn’t about political alignments or economics, although those things are indeed important. I believe there are underlying spiritual realities to be considered. I have long prophesied that Ukraine is a spiritual stealth torpedo in the arsenal of the Lord, a weapon of power that the enemy of our soul has not seen coming until now.

Historically, Ukraine has been a kind of innocent player on the world stage, ravaged by armies from Europe rampaging over it on their way to attack Russia and then trampled again by the armies of Russia driving back the armies of Europe. Ukraine itself has had little blood on its hands. Who would expect anything world-changing to come out of Ukraine? A parallel might be what the Jews said about Galilee: “They answered him, ‘You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee’” (John 7:52, NASB). The Jews used to ask, “Can anything good come out of Galilee?” And yet from Galilee came Jesus and the 12.

Powerful voices will arise out of Ukraine carrying a fresh stream of the Spirit and of power. Out of Ukraine’s relative innocence—and since the dissolution of the Soviet Union—a number of strong Christian leaders have been rising, mostly unknown and in hiddenness—hence my “stealth torpedo” metaphor. These are among the finest men of God I have met or had the privilege to know in my travels over the years. Although the number of charismatic and evangelical Christians in Ukraine remains small relative to the overall population, in terms of spiritual power and maturity their growth has been strong and wonderful to see. This has often been accompanied by signs and wonders that have garnered little attention outside of Ukraine.

It is my opinion that this political turmoil over the determination of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to align Ukraine with Russia and to turn away from economic alliance with the European Union strategically coincides with a time of ripeness for Ukrainian Christians. An underlying intent of the spiritual hosts of wickedness in this conflict is to dampen, squelch or hide the influence of a Ukrainian revival and Ukrainian spiritual leaders upon the rest of the world, as well as to simply create as much human suffering as possible.

In short, please pray for Ukraine. The consequences of what happens there go well beyond what you see in the news. There are kingdom of God issues at stake.

R. Loren Sandford is the founder and senior pastor of New Song Church and Ministries in Denver. He is a songwriter, recording artist and worship leader, as well as the author of several books, including Understanding Prophetic People, The Prophetic Church and his latest, Visions of the Coming Days: What to Look for and How to Prepare, which are available with other resources at the church's website.