Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
Talk about hospitality! In ancient Jerusalem there was an amazing custom to hang a white kerchief from the window to signify that a meal had been prepared, and those in need of food could come join. Fast forward two thousand years; Colel Chabad is one of Israel's oldest charities, and they continue this tradition of providing food and other vital necessities to the needy of Jerusalem.
At Jerusalem’s First Station in the heart of the city, dozens of women from the community center surprised tourists and citizens alike when a popular Israeli song came on the loud speakers followed by a beautiful coordination of dance and soul.
Israeli pride at its best, by Yehoshua Halevi. The Israeli flag as we know it was declared the official flag of the country six months after Israel's declaration of statehood. The flag is reminiscent of the traditional striped prayer shawl with the Magen David at its center.
It’s great to hear from you and make new friends from all over the world. Please send mean email and let me know how you are enjoying Jerusalem365 (don’t forget to say where you are from!).
Sending love and prayers to all of Israel from the US in Rosharon, near Houston, Texas. I would love to be able to visit one day but until I can, these inspirational messages make me feel close. To the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob be the glory forever and ever...Amen
(Riverside, California) -- Yesterday here in Southern California, I did a Q&A session and delivered a sermon on the differences between Apocalyptic Islamic eschatology (End Times theology) and Biblical eschatology.
I explained why this topic matters, and why it's particularly important right now.
This was the first of a series of messages I will be delivering as part of our month-long book tour for The First Hostage,and I'm very grateful to my friend, Pastor Greg Laurie, for inviting me. My intention is to post notes and the video or audio of each message along the way. I hope you find them helpful. Please feel free to comment on ourEpicenter Team page on Facebook, and to share this with family, friends and colleagues on social media.
First, some background: Radical Islam is a serious threat, but it's not the most dangerous threat the West faces. Apocalyptic Islam is far more dangerous.
Radical Islam seeks to attack us. Apocalyptic Islam seeks to annihilate us.
Radical Islam (al Qaeda, Hamas, the Taliban, Muslim Brotherhood, etc) uses violence for the purpose of persuading Jews, Christians and other so-called "infidels" to withdraw from -- and leave entirely -- the holy lands and holy places they consider their own, namely the Middle East and North Africa.
Apocalyptic Islam (such as the top leaders of Iran, and the leaders of the Islamic State) do not merely seek to drive infidels out of their region. They are driven by ancient Islamic prophecies. They believe the End of Days is at hand, that their messiah (known as the Mahdi) will come at any moment to establish an Islamic kingdom or caliphate that will rule over the entire globe, and that the way to hasten the coming of the Mahdi is to annihilate the infidels who refuse to submit to their brand of Islam.
To be clear: having an eschatology is not necessarily wrong. What is both wrong and horrific is having an eschatology that requires a person or an entire religion to rob, kill, destroy and even commit genocide to achieve their religious objectives.
Devout Jews believe the Messiah will come one day to establish a global kingdom (see Daniel 7, Jeremiah 23 and Isaiah 9, among other passages). Christians believe this as well and believe that Jesus of Nazareth is, in fact, that Messiah and that He will come again to establish His kingdom in the last days (see the Book of Revelation, among other passages).
Having said that, it's important to understand that both devout Jews and Christians believe God will supernaturally achieve these objectives. We do not believe that God requires us to slaughter our enemies en masse to bring about the End of Days and establish His kingdom.
Most world leaders do not understand these issues. Most citizens don't either. But the rise of Apocalyptic, genocidal Islam makes it urgent that we and our leaders study and understand these distinctions. We cannot defeat an enemy we cannot or will not define.
There are some similarities within Islamic, Jewish and Christian teachings about the End Times. Indeed, when it comes to the study of eschatology, most devout Muslims (Sunnis and Shias), Jews and Christians -- that is, those who take their holy books seriously and haven't rejected or drifted from the orthodoxy of their religions -- agree on five basic points.
Ancient prophecies in our holy books give us signs to watch for that will indicate when the End of Days has come.
So many signs are coming to pass in our time that we can be confident that we are, in fact, living in the End of Days.
The Messiah is coming to earth, and it is possible that this will happen very soon.
The coming Messiah is the King, He will establish a global kingdom, and He usher in justice and righteousness on the earth.
Each of us must live differently in view of the fact that we are living in the End of Days and the fact that each of us will face the Final Judgment soon.
That said, the vast majority of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims are not dangerous. Polling research indicates about 7% to 10% of Muslims worldwide subscribe to the concept of violent jihad to achieve their objectives. And while all devout Muslims believe the Mahdi is coming in the End Times to establish a global caliphate, the vast majority do not support violence much less genocide to achieve those ends. But some do, including the leaders of Iran and ISIS, and that's what makes them so dangerous.
What, then, are the main differences between Apocalyptic Islamic eschatology (based on the Qur'an and the hadiths) and Biblical eschatology (based on the Old and New Testaments)? I've prepared a simple chart to draw out some of the important distinctions.Some important questions are these:
According to the Bible, how does one enter the Kingdom of God?
According to the Bible, how is one adopted into the royal family of God?
What did John the Baptist mean when he preached, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"?
What did Jesus mean when he preached "the gospel of the kingdom"?
My heart yearns for the glory of the Lord Jesus to be revealed in the earth, touching the hearts and souls of men, women and children in each and every nation. As we see the days become darker, we believe that the Lord God of Israel will show Himself strong, and prove that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, as He says He is. I wrote this book for you who also long to walk in strong faith, courage and commitment to the end, for whatever the Lord has planned and purposed for you and I.
Together, as the Body of Christ, and the glorious Bride that we will become, we will one day see His Kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. The Gospel, the Good News of salvation, will be declared, and that which is just and good will for all eternity overcome the evil one. I sincerely believe we are living in the end of days, as prophetic words have been rapidly fulfilled since the re-birth of Israel in 1948. Jesus Himself had said that when we see the fig tree budding, we know that the time is near.
This book, my 10th published in the last three years (all between 2013-2015) and before my 61st birthday, is very special to me. I sense it is something the Lord put on my heart to do several months ago, giving it that “urgency of getting it done and out there” feel as I wrote.
Originally these chapters were Now Think On This messages. It was amazing to me how many were done in September and October of 2015 alone, as the Holy Spirit would speak a word or sentence to me, and I would write soon after. I am truly grateful for His impartation, and acknowledge Jesus (Yeshua), my Lord and Savior, above all.
The photos I have included in the book are primarily ones I took (exceptions noted), both to document history and to share another way the Lord also speaks to His Body. Capturing moments of the Holy Spirit action, especially in the two “fire” photos, were exciting. In both cases I wasn’t even aware of it until they were “developed”.
I trust this book will both encourage you and cause you to re-commit yourself - to know the Lord’s will for your life, do all you can to allow Him to direct your steps, and be the light in these dark days we desperately need and have been called upon by the Lord to be. I am with you, arm in arm!
Lutheran Pastor Wolfgang Schuch was one of the giants of the 16th century. According to Charles Spurgeon'sThe Treasury of David, Schuch was imprisoned for denying "the Church and the sacrifice of the mass" and was sentenced to be burnt at the stake. Upon hearing his sentence, he began singing the 122nd Psalm, "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go into the house of the Lord.'"
In fact, it was in the 19th-century Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon's aforementioned commentary on the Psalms that I read about Schuch. But Spurgeon read about Schuch from within the pages of Foxe's Book of Martyrs. When Christians stand with courage and conviction—even in the face of death—their testimony inspires others for generations to come.
Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis faced her own trial and dilemma in 2015. She would either knuckle under to secular judicial elites and compromise her beliefs as a Christ follower, or she would go to jail. Confrontation with evil is nothing new; John N. Oswalt says believers throughout history have been "flayed alive, impaled, mutilated and killed" (Isaiah Commentary). Theology can make for splendid Bible study discussion in the safety and comfort of a yet-free society, but the real question is this: Will you bet your life on it?
Secularism is a pagan ideology, a religion. According to Harold J. Berman's Law and Revolution, secularism divorced itself from Christianity, and yet still retained "from traditional Christianity both its sense of the sacred and some of its major values." But a rival now challenges secularists in the form of revolutionary totalitarianism.
For instance, homosexual militants once lobbied for a libertarian acceptance of its lifestyle with this mantra: "Allow us to live our lives in the privacy of our homes." But then, the homosexual movement shifted to a totalitarian posture: "Bakers, photographers and Christian retreat centers will take part in our weddings or be bankrupted." Finally, the situation Kim Davis faced introduced us to the next chapter: Fascism, with its declaration, "You will ceremonialize and pay homage to our weddings, or you'll spend time in jail."
Pro-life evangelical and Catholic Christians have favored an esoteric, academic approach over the last two to three generations. But in the battle with secularists for ideological supremacy in the public square, the cancer of secularism has now run its course. The decay to this once-great Christian nation is nauseating.
In plain English, Peter J. Leithart spelled out his diagnosis and corrective to the gathering storm when he wrote in Between Babel and Beast:
"Until American churches actually function as outposts of Jesus' heavenly empire rather than as cheerleaders for America—until the churches produce martyrs rather than patriots—the political witness of Christians will continue to be diluted and co-opted."
Edmund Burke observed that those who refuse to look backward to their ancestry would not look forward to their posterity. Jewish talk show host Michael Medved observes, "The Founders weren't atheists, agnostics or secularists; they were, almost without exception, deeply serious Christians."
I predict that a future American leader will conclude that America's greatest need is a spiritual awakening. Once inaugurated, repentance will be the first order of business; first confessing his own sins, and then admitting his and the nation's folly for replacing Jehovah and traditional Christianity with a "religion of secularism." (This is U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's prophetic language in his lone dissent in the 1963 SCOTUS ruling to remove the Bible from public schools in America: "It led not to true neutrality with respect to religion, but to the establishment of a religion of secularism.")
According to Eric Metaxes, this historic figure, "something like what a Moses was to Israel" will have set in motion a movement to oust the false religion of secularism from the political, legal, economic, religious and cultural institutions of America. And analogous to Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, a "cataclysmic" explosion of faith will rock the world for generations.
But this movement likely won't come into view until the church returns to the priority of prayer, establishing righteousness above sacrifice and the priority of ethics over ritual. God's name has been brought into contempt, but like the prideful Philistines in 1 Samuel 5, secularists have misinterpreted their victory:
"The only reason that they had defeated Israel was because Yahweh was using the Philistines to discipline His people. How much better it would have been for His glory to be revealed on the battlefield, but He couldn't give victory to a disobedient people. The living God cannot be used, manipulated or managed. God allows Himself to be humiliated and exalted. But through it all, He will not compromise His holiness or integrity. In the church God often appears to be losing because Christians refuse to submit to His lordship. The Lord longs to show up in a powerful way, but He is waiting for us to be holy as he is holy (1 Pet 1:16). So instead of blaming the church for being anemic, lethargic and irrelevant, perhaps we should blame ourselves" (Dr. Keith Krell,1 Samuel).
Once we return to God, He will then attend to the honor of His name. Public education and universities will again focus on the principal component of education: incorporating the character of the Father into our children, thus creating an exceptional and virtuous people. Test scores in education will soar for, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Prov. 1:7).
Once gospel righteousness is restored to the public square, virtue will suddenly come to the forefront at City Hall. America will again bring forth outstanding men and women of character, produced by a Christian culture, Christian thought and biblical wisdom. As Charles Spurgeon said, "He who is taught of God has a practical wisdom such as malice cannot supply to the crafty; while harmless as a dove he also exhibits more than a serpent's wisdom."
We simply need a Gideon or Rahab to stand.
David Laneis the founder of American Renewal Project.
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From the book of Genesis onward, Satan has been on a mission to restrain woman from fulfilling her destiny as a co-heir and co-laborer with Christ.
Yes, she is different and unique. Yet in Christ, she is qualified to rise up and boldly release the authority of heaven on Earth. It's only when this mandate is fully restored, and its expression is encouraged in the church that we will begin to see Holy Spirit outpouring demonstrated in a more complete and dynamic way.
As long as women are restrained from preaching and prophesying, biblically speaking, we are only going to experience a trickle of revival when God wills a river. This is because we are negating an entire gender.
I write from the vantage point of a man who is desperate to see the church operate in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Responsively, I firmly believe that how we (men and church leaders alike) treat our sisters in Christ has everything to do with the measure of revival we all experience. This is absolutely biblical, for when Holy Spirit outpouring is biblically defined—both prophetically in Joel and then actually comes to fruition in Acts—women are specifically identified as those qualified to prophesy and participate in the move of God.
The restorative work of Jesus truly leveled the playing field, making it possible for men and women alike to participate in releasing the power of heaven on Earth: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, and there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28).
As long as the devil is able to restrain women from taking their vital place in the body of Christ, he is likewise able to restrain a measure of revival and outpouring from flowing from the church and into the world. How is this even possible—and more importantly, is the concept scriptural?
What Is Clogging Up the River of Revival?
There has been an age-old war raging between Satan and woman, the serpent and the Seed of the woman: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel" (Gen. 3:15).
Why are the efforts of hell so strategically targeted against women—specifically, trying to prevent women from occupying positions of leadership and authority? She is a unique and absolutely essential part of bringing the culture of heaven to Earth, unlocking the river of Holy Spirit outpouring that has been flowing since the Day of Pentecost.
Make no mistake, the Holy Spirit has been moving since Pentecost; however, it seems as though His movement has been flowing with some hindrances, restrictions and barriers during specific seasons in history.
There barriers are not on God's end; they are on man's. Jesus' blood sealed the deal and the day of Pentecost made God accessible to whosoever will receive the saving work of Jesus. In other words, God ensured that every barrier was removed so that you and I could be filled with His Spirit, walk in communion with Him and release His kingdom on Earth.
So why aren't we seeing this happen in a greater way? There are man-made barriers we need to confront. One of the most significant and unaddressed is how women can be marginalized in the body of Christ.
If the Spirit's outpouring was truly without restriction, then we would have no need for what we call "revival" or awakening; those seasons of unusual visitation become essential when the people of God engage in practices or entertain mindsets that build spiritual dams preventing the free flow of the Holy Spirit. He wants to move without restraint.
Sadly, one of the great dams and barriers to the Spirit's unrestricted flow in our world today is the restriction of women. When we restrict women from rising up and walking in the anointing to lead and prophesy, I believe we are—in part—restricting the Holy Spirit's movement on Earth.
Before I continue further, if you are looking for solid scriptural support for why women should be in leadership, I encourage you to check out Why Not Women by Loren Cunningham and David Joel Hamilton, Fashioned to Reign by Kris Vallotton, or Ten Lies the Church Tells Women by J. Lee Grady.
Break the Restraints to Revival
As long as the "daughters" are restrained from coming alongside the sons to prophesy, we will not fully experience the full measure of revival that God wills for the church to experience and the world desperately yearns to be transformed by. In fact, God more than wills it; He has already made it available! God has already said "Amen" to a landscape-shifting revival; however, the ears are God are bending close to Earth, listening for those who say a whole-hearted "Yes" to everything He has made available.
When men are the only ones who think they are qualified to say "Yes" to the call of God, revival is not being released in the full measure that heaven has mandated.
When God spoke through the prophet Joel, He made heaven's end-time agenda of outpouring and revival abundantly clear:
"And it will be that, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions" (Joel 2:28).
If we didn't get the point in verse 28, the Lord emphasizes in verse 29:
"Even on the menservants and maidservants in those days I will pour out My Spirit."
As we know, the fulfillment to this prophetic announcement began in Acts 2 and has been continuing ever since. While there is undeniably an element of God's sovereignty involved in seasons of "revival," I have to ask: Could it be that one of the keys that positions the body of Christ for moving in sustained revival is the emergence of prophesying daughters?
For centuries, the role of the "sons" has basically been assumed. There are really no questions or arguments over the leadership capabilities of men in a church context; however, a woman speaking, teaching, prophesying or leading is often the subject of considerable controversy. This ought not be!
Women on the Frontlines of God's Earthly Activity
Throughout history, God's daughters and maidservants have been positioned on the frontlines of historic Holy Spirit outpouring. Sometimes they were dynamic public figures, pioneering revolutions and preaching the gospel. Sometimes they were hidden in the prayer closet, literally contending for heaven to invade Earth through intercession. Either way, these women witnessed the fruit of their impassioned cries and dynamic efforts, be it during their lifetime or looking down from heaven.
In the Old Testament, women are on the frontlines of battle, judging the nation and providing refuge to the spies of Israel as they conquered Jericho. Women open and conclude the Gospels, ushering the Messiah into the Earth and then, beholding Him in resurrected form.
Elizabeth gives birth to John the Baptist, the forerunner. You have others such as businesswoman Priscilla (Acts 18:2-3), Junia (who many scholars recognize as an apostolic figure, Rom. 16:7) and the virgin daughters of Philip the Evangelist, who were prophets (Acts 21:9). You have the Samaritan woman in John 4 who encounters Jesus, leaves her waterpot, and preaches to the men of her city. As a result, they all experience a divine visitation from the Savior.
Women are the first at the tomb to behold the resurrection miracle and receive instruction to share the good news with the apostles. And of course, there is the definitive woman of the Bible—Mary, the one whose womb delivered the Savior who delivered us from our sins, ensured that humanity could be indwelt by God, and ultimately, birthed a revolution that would reconnect heaven to Earth.
It goes without saying that God has favored His daughters and has strategically set them on the frontlines of history. When God moved, it seemed as though women were always there on the cutting edge of His activity. Elizabeth birthed a prophet. Mary birthed the Messiah.
The Canaanite woman demonstrated a faith in Jesus that prematurely drew in a reality—the kingdom of God being opened up to the Gentiles—that was reserved for the post-resurrection time frame (Matt. 15:28). These women all knew about collaborating with God and birthing heaven on Earth.
Just review the pages of history. Revival after revival, movement after movement, has seen prominent women serving as forerunners for what the Holy Spirit was saying and doing in that hour.
Maria Woodworth-Etter introduced people to the Pentecostal experience before Pentecostalism became a formal movement within Christianity in the 20th century. Her meetings were quite extraordinary. The gospel of Jesus was always central, but the supernatural phenomena that occurred in that context was truly otherworldly. Healings, miracles, prophetic trances—even those who came to mock these meetings experienced encounters with God.
Aimee Semple McPherson was revolutionary in making the church experience relevant, interesting and engaging, while also being a stalwart champion of God's miraculous healing power. While McPherson was renowned for her engaging gospel presentations, often drawing celebrities and Hollywood notables to her services at Angelus Temple, she did not back down from preaching the uncompromised gospel ... and preaching it in the power of signs and wonders.
Kathryn Kuhlman could be best described as a friend of the Holy Spirit. She did not chase after healing miracles, nor did she ever claim to be a faith healer or miracle worker. She rejected such descriptions. Kathryn was an evangelist, who passionately pleaded for people to meet her precious Jesus. She preached the gospel with clarity, love, compassion and gentleness—and healing broke out. Truly, Kathryn enjoyed such close fellowship with the Holy Spirit, that when she walked onto a stage, audiences recognized that she was not alone; she was overshadowed by His presence.
These are three examples among the multitudes. I could go on and on about daughters who said "Yes" to God's call and have been changing the landscape of Christianity, both then and now. Joyce Meyer is a no-nonsense Spirit-filled teacher and preacher, anointed to help make the Scriptures practical for everyday living. Marilyn Hickey, now in her 80s, is preaching the gospel with boldness overseas (in some very difficult to reach areas), with mighty healing and miracles following her presentation.
Cindy Jacobs is a prophetic and intercessory strategist who contends with heaven for revival and reformation. Australian worship leader Darlene Zschech was a key catalyst in the mid-1990s, used to release the sounds of heaven into the Earth and help pioneer the modern worship movement.
Karen Wheaton has led a youth movement in the backwoods of Hamilton, Alabama, for 15 years, raising up the next generation to usher in awakening. Heidi Baker has given her life to seeing the nation of Mozambique transformed by the love of Jesus—and in doing so, she and her husband founded IRIS Ministries, which has seen over a million people come to Christ, churches built across the Earth, the sick healed and even the dead raised. The list continues and grows very long!
So as women, why does the enemy war against you and try to keep you from taking your place?
Here are three ways that women uniquely usher in revival and crush the devil. Make no mistake, the enemy doesn't want God's daughters to live mindful of these realities!
1. Women give birth to the impossible and remind Satan of his eternal defeat. Mary was not some otherworldly super-being; she was an ordinary teenaged girl upon receiving her summons. Yet she deserves to be honored as a revivalist and powerful example of how anything is impossible when one says yes to Jesus.
No one is beyond ushering in a great move of God! You were born to birth things into the Earth—and in a way, you uniquely get to give birth to the expression of Jesus, since the Spirit of God lives within you and empowers you to manifest the nature, character, image and power of the Risen Christ through your life!
Every time you demonstrate the work of Jesus through your life, you are enforcing the victory of the One who forever crushed the devil at Calvary. Women walking in this identity continually remind the enemy of his eternal defeat. When salvation is brought to a life or household, Satan is crushed.
When healing reverses sickness, Satan is crushed. When immorality, crime and corruption are exchanged for peace, honor and love, Satan is defeated, yes—but he continues to be crushed as sons and daughters actually walk out this victory that Jesus purchased for them and enforce it.
2. Women sustain revival, from generation to generation. A woman must never devalue her ability to be a life-giver and life-bearer. You carry the ability to bring life into the world that perpetuates the move of God from generation to generation. This is the commission of every mother, natural and spiritual: to birth children who sustain and excel your supernatural momentum.
The next generation should always be positioned to exceed the previous generation. If you have a womb, you have the ability to give birth to sons and daughter that prophesy, perform signs and wonders, heal the sick, lead movements and change nations. You have the ability to raise up boys and girls, young men and young women who go further and deeper in God than you ever dreamed possible because God works generationally.
Whether you have natural children or not, whether you can give birth or not, women are spiritual mothers who raise up a generation of men and women to birth the purposes of God into the Earth.
3. Women preach and shift atmospheres over entire cities. One evidence of the Acts 2 outpouring is that daughters will prophesy. To prophesy is to speak forth! You cannot prophesy silently. Need Bible references?
The Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 went back to her town and "told the people there..." about Jesus. And some of these people that she told were men! As a result, the people left the town, went to see Jesus, begged Him to stay with them, experienced a two-day visitation from the Son of God, and as a result, many became believers.
She preached and as a result, she became a catalyst for a city to experience a divine visitation from Jesus Himself. How many more cities could experience powerful Holy Spirit visitation if women were encouraged to go and tell? Preach. Proclaim. Disciple. Prophesy. Jesus did not rebuke this woman for going ... and likewise, I do not believe He is rebuking His daughters today as they rise up, take their place and begin saying what the Father is saying.
It's time for women to usher in the Holy Spirit outpouring they were anointed to release! From the Day of Pentecost until now, the daughters have been qualified to prophesy. Let us encourage them to boldly speak forth the Word of the Lord, expecting their participation to release the fullness of God's kingdom on Earth!
Larry Sparksis co-author of the book The Fire That Never Sleeps, with Dr. Michael Brown and John Kilpatrick. Larry's mission is to help teach all believers how to experience and sustain personal revival—enjoying a deep relationship with God through encountering the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. To this end, he maintains a blog through Charisma magazine, is a published author, teaches revival seminars, and is the co-founder of Renewing South Florida, an organization committed to uniting the local church for regional outpouring. Larry holds a Master of Divinity from Regent University and presently serves as Publisher for Destiny Image publishing house.
You can receive daily empowerment for personal revival from Larry on Facebook (facebook.com/larryvsparks).
Larry Sparksis co-author of the book, The Fire That Never Sleeps, with Dr. Michael Brown and John Kilpatrick. Larry's mission is to help teach all believers how to experience and sustain personal revival—enjoying a deep relationship with God through encountering the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. To this end, he maintains a blog through Charisma magazine, is a published author, teaches revival seminars, and is the co-founder of Renewing South Florida, an organization committed to uniting the local church for regional outpouring. Larry holds a Master of Divinity from Regent University and presently serves as vice president of publishing for Destiny Image Publishers.
You can receive daily empowerment for personal revival from Larry on Facebook (facebook.com/larryvsparks).
NEW from CHARISMA:Do you want to encounter the Holy Spirit and hear God speak to you? Increase your faith, discover freedom, and draw near to God! Click Here
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Thank you for your sacrifices. May our Lord Jesus hasten the day when the terms "white church" and "black church" will be unintelligible. (Courtesy)
MLK's Prophetic Word Was 100 Percent Accurate
Dear Dr. King,
You were right. You prophesied, "If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will ... be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the 20th century."
But we have lost more than a sacrificial spirit. One of your prophetic heirs, Carl Ellis, has made clear that many black and white churches have become "irrelevant social clubs" because they have lost the God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated gospel. God has been sold for good agendas.
There are times I wished you had made the biblical gospel clearer. But I am sure you would agree that the power you wielded was rooted in God.
Today, as I look at the gospel-weak white and black churches, I would say that both need a transcendent reference point in the sovereignty, supremacy and centrality of God, expressed supremely in the gospel of Jesus Christ. God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated churches where the gospel is cherished—these are the birthplace of the kind of racial harmony that give long-term glory to God and long-term gospel-good to the world.
Again you were right about the folly of passive waiting. Biblical waiting is not passive. It does not compromise. Nothing that needs changing changes without effort.
Some may have quoted, "Wait on the Lord; be strong, and may your heart be stout; wait on the Lord" (Ps. 27:14). But this call to wait for the Lord never meant stop doing what he commanded us to do in the pursuit of holy goals.
Waiting for the Lord means our action is essential, but his is decisive. The farmer must wait for the harvest. But no one works harder than the farmer.
Thank you for your sacrifices. May our Lord Jesus hasten the day when the terms "white church" and "black church" will be unintelligible.
NEW from CHARISMA:Do you want to encounter the Holy Spirit and hear God speak to you? Increase your faith, discover freedom, and draw near to God! Click Here
Pastor Saeed Abedini and two other Americans are making their way home Monday, just one step closer to reuniting with their families.
Iran agreed to release the men in exchange for several Iranians being held in the U.S.
The prisoner swap happened the same day as U.S. and EU countries lifted decades-long sanctions against the Islamic regime.
"I've been a single mom for three and half years, and the kids reuniting with him will be a precious moment," Naghmeh Abedini, wife of Saeed Abedini, said.
Pastor Saeed was arrested nearly four years ago for his work among Iran's house churches.
In an exclusive interview just hours after her husband's release, Naghmeh Abedini described to CBN News the moment when she told her two children, Rebekka and Jacob, that their father was coming home.
"They were jumping up and down and rejoicing! It was very loud, very joyful and I could see a heavy weight lifted off their little shoulders," she said.
For the Abedini family, it has been three and half grueling years of advocacy and lots of prayer.
"Outside my faith in Jesus Christ, I'm so thankful for the millions who prayed, who trusted God with me, who did not give up, who sent me messages and letters saying 'we are not giving up; we have not forgotten him,'" Naghmeh said.
The American Center for Law Justice worked for Pastor Saeed's freedom. ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow called his release a "God moment."
"Even though our lawyers worked really hard and teams around the globe worked really hard, there were millions of people praying," Sekulow told CBN News. "Probably as many languages as they are people groups and those prayers were answered."
"God supernaturally intervened and we have the release of the Americans," Sekulow said.
The dramatic events happened over the weekend when Iran agreed to free five American hostages in exchange for several Iranians accused or convicted of violating U.S. sanctions.
"In a reciprocal, humanitarian gesture, six Iranian Americans and one Iranian - serving sentences or awaiting trial in the United States - are being granted clemency," President Barack Obama announced Sunday.
While nearly all Americans rejoiced at the news, some did so with caution. Former U.S. United Nations Ambassador John Bolton called the action "wonderful for the families" but said it was a "diplomatic debacle" for the United States.
"The Americans weren't prisoners in Iran, they were hostages," Bolton told Fox News.
"They had been taken by a state terrorist decision and were being held as bargaining chips," he said. "To say that victims of terrorism are the equivalent of criminals or alleged criminals gives Iran an enormous victory."
Bolton said he believes the exchange "incentivizes" Iran and other terrorist entities to take more hostages and to raise the price.
Within hours of the prisoner swap, Iran joined the global economy for the first time in decades after the U.S. and EU agreed to lift sanctions following confirmation that the regime had kept its part of a nuclear deal signed last year.
While the president did impose some new sanctions because of Iran's recent missile tests, he praised the prisoner exchange.
"The freed Americans include Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, former U.S Marine Amir Hekmati, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari and Matthew Trevithick," he said.
"These individuals were not charged with terrorism or any violent offenses," he noted. "They're civilians, and their release is a one-time gesture to Iran given the unique opportunity offered by this moment and the larger circumstances at play."
"It reflects our willingness to engage with Iran to advance our mutual interests, even as we ensure the national security of the United States," the president continued.
"And perhaps most important of all, we've achieved this historic progress through diplomacy, without resorting to another war in the Middle East," he said.
Amelia Newcomb, mother of Mathew Trevithick, was "overjoyed" that her son was finally freed.
"We are just enormously grateful to everybody in the government," she said.
Not among those coming home is former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who disappeared in Iran in 2007.
"We are happy for the other families. But once again, Bob Levinson has been left behind. We are devastated," his family said in a statement on Facebook.
Abedini, Rezaian, and Hekmati are now at a U.S military hospital in Germany undergoing medical checkups before making the final journey home.
“I went about as though it had been my friend or my brother; I bowed down mournful, as one that mourneth for his mother.” (Psalms 35:14)
A Jewish woman was brutally murdered while defending her children from a terrorist who broke into their home in Otniel on Sunday afternoon.
Dafna Meir, 39, was at home with three of her six children in the Judean town of Otniel, located in the Hebron hills, when an Arab man entered her house. Meir struggled with the terrorist in the entrance of the house in an attempt to keep him away from her children, receiving multiple fatal stabbing wounds.
The terrorist then fled the scene of the attack, which had been witnessed by Meir’s 15-year-old daughter. She later told police what had happened and described the attacker to security forces, who are currently combing the area to find traces of him.
The assailant is believed to have escaped to a nearby Arab village. Overnight, five Palestinians in the area of the settlement were detained in connection with the attack, and another 22 were detained after sweeps across the West Bank.
While there is security camera footage of the terrorist escaping from the gated community on foot, there is no evidence of him breaking in. Security forces have said it is likely that he was a construction worker employed in Otniel.
The settlement was put on lockdown following the attack, with residents being advised to stay inside. On Monday, all Palestinian workers were banned from entering Jewish communities in the area.
Meir was mother to four children between the ages of 11 and 17, and two foster children, both under five. A nurse in the neurosurgery department of Soroka Medical Center, Meir was known for her joyful demeanor and generosity.
She worked with the Summit Institute, an organization which gives assistance to disadvantaged Israeli children struggling with trauma, mental illness, family crises, and special needs. Meir and her family had taken in two young foster children as part of the Institute’s family-based residential foster care program, one of whom has special needs.
“Dafna and her husband provided a warm and loving home to two children, one of whom is a special-needs child,” Summit Institute Executive Director Yoni Bogot said in a statement. “Dafna dedicated her life to saving lives, both as a nurse and as a foster mother. May her memory be a blessing and an inspiration to us all.” Yishai Klein, a neighbor of Meir’s, told Ynet, “She was a happy woman, joyful, optimistic, driven, responsible, loving.”
Meir’s friend Liron Steinberg added, “She always looked for how to help.” She said that Meir had often invited troubled kids from a nearby youth village to her home if they didn’t have a place to go.
The attack was immediately condemned by Israeli officials, who expressed sorrow and grief over the incident and warned that Palestinian terrorism would “require us to act with an iron hand”.
Eli Yishai, former Interior Minister, said in a statement, “I am shocked by the murderous attack in Otniel. The cruelty of the murderers knows no bounds.”
“Again we come across the face of uninhibited evil. An awful murder of a Jewish woman, may her memory be blessed, in her private home, with her only ‘sin’ being that she was an Israeli Jew,” he added.
Some important questions are these:
