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Balloons and Kites

Balloons and kites usually stir up pleasant memories for many people. But this is not true for people living in Israel right now. Some Palestinians have been launching fire kites and balloons into Israel during the past 12 weeks. More than 430 fires have erupted, and 2,000 acres of wood and farmland have been damaged by the flames. The fires have also ruined produce worth millions of shekels.

Why hasn’t the UN put together a resolution against these acts of terrorism? Why haven’t any world leaders responded to this tragedy? As usual, the leadership in Israel is being challenged with how to respond.

If this happened here in America, our government would have acted immediately to apprehend the people launching fire kites and balloons, but Israel is always criticized when they do what every other government (rightfully) does.

Over and over again, Hamas incites and encourages acts of terrorism. Israel must protect their citizens and do whatever is necessary for people to live in peace. Things stay calm for a while, then acts of terrorism and war returns to the land of Israel. This cycle repeats itself over and over again. How long will this last? The Bible informs us that in the End Times nations will unite to attack Jerusalem. No one wants this to happen, but since it is written in the Bible it is unavoidable; we can be certain that it will happen.

As horrible as this will be, we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) What good will come out of this?

The Bible teaches that when the nations unite to attack Jerusalem, Messiah Jesus will return to defend the Jewish people, and defeat their enemies. Jesus will then rule as King over all the earth and bring the world peace most people have hungered and hoped for so many years.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and every city on earth. And pray for the return of King Jesus so that He can bring world peace.

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Is Your Name Nobody?

Judges 9:53 NKJV “But a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.”  Wow, some real drama and a historical victory for God’s children. However, one day as I read the account I related to it very personally.  In pastoral ministry I was often referred to as Carlotta or Ms. B. Both were pleasing to me; they were personal. Yet when being introduced in pastoral, missions and itinerary ministry I have been introduced innumerable times as, “Larry’s wife.”  I do like the sound of it because I love being his wife. But I am also an individual. Don’t misunderstand, I am not one of those ministers’ wives who goes around trying to establish a platform by declaring, “But what about me, I have something to offer too.”  However, I will admit that on one occasion when being introduced as merely Larry’s wife, by a pastor with whom we had been in close fellowship for years, I demonstrated some holy boldness – well, some kind of boldness – and declared, “You know I do have a name.”  Please recognize what I am saying. There are times when such an introduction is appropriate, but when the opportunity presents itself anyone can appreciate respect and personal acceptance.

 

I had often read this story of a “certain” woman but until this time had not researched and determined that the same reference is so frequently included in Scripture for other women and men.  It sounds like the introduction of more modern day stories reading, “Once upon a time….”

 

Now the lesson that I would like to present from the Judges 9 story is something that stirred my heart and continues to challenge me.  I won’t go into a lot of detail since you know the story and can further study at your convenience, but the main facts are as follows:

 

  1. The certain woman, along with her fellow citizens, had fled into the city’s strong tower because they were being pursued by the wicked king Abimelech who had killed his brothers, seventy sons of Jerubbaal (Gideon).  God had lifted His restraints because of his many cruel and evil deeds. At last the people revolted against the king’s ungodly rule.
  2. The king saw the vulnerability of the people, approached the tower himself and was attempting to set fire to the entrance.
  3. Mind you, the tower was crowded with all the citizens who had climb it in desperation but note –
  4. A certain woman saw opportunity, acted upon it, proved courageous and dropped a millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull.  This action caused him to beg to be killed by his men so it couldn’t be said that it was a woman who had destroyed him.

This woman is still an example of encouragement to us.  In fact, she reminds me of another woman in Judges, Jael.  They both saw opportunity and seized the moment. One is not named and one is. You may be made to feel at times that your name is “No Name.” The challenge is this – are you presenting yourself to be a certain woman or a certain man?  Regardless of whether your name is mentioned or is not.  The point is that you are you. You are vital, whether in vocational ministry, education, business, the medical field, the arts, stay-at-home parenting, even in a state of physical disability.  We hear the term marketplace frequently. The marketplace has always been the place of mingling, interaction. So may I say it this way? Your marketplace is anywhere and everywhere you take in oxygen and do life.  Be the person who sees need, sees opportunity, seizes the moment, takes action for God and man. You are God’s certain woman or God’s certain man.  You have His favor, His help, His anointing as soon as you put your hand/your mind/your voice to what is provided.  He is still saying “well done” to the woman in Judges 9 and he says “well-done” to your obedience.

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Are You an All “Pro” Pastor?

In America when you see something that says “All Pro” we quickly make the assessment that they or it must be really good at what they do. Just as you may think of an “All Star” in sports or business. This represents the very best.

Today however, I invite you to consider that an All ‘Pro” Pastor is a pastor who is very positive in speech, attitude and heart. They are Pro-Jesus, Pro-Holy Spirit, Pro-family, Pro-marriage, Pro-church, Pro-unity, Pro-Kingdom, Pro-community, Pro-forgiveness, Pro-encouragement, Pro-accountability, Pro-freedom, Pro-Bible and the list goes on. Yes we must face many challenges and predators also the storms that come and the frequent battles, yet we will always find the “Pro”.

The sheep we care for need a “Pro” shepherd in order survive and thrive. The “Pro” Pastor/Shepherd takes a type of ownership of each sheep, because that comes with the expectation from our “Shepherd” Jesus.

An All Pro Pastor is the Pastor who speaks life into people not death. He speaks encouragement not criticism. He teaches God’s word as the words of hope and victory. The All “Pro” Pastor is a Warrior and a Shepherd who fights for the flock he cares for. He loves each one as his own because he represents Jesus as His Ambassador in every way. He nourishes the flock as a “Son” and not a hireling. He takes them “his flock” through the Valley of Shadows and danger, protecting them with his very life. He brings them to fresh clean springs to drink from and protects them from the polluted and poisonous. He teaches them with all diligence and understanding. He recognizes the infants and the mature. He walks with them through all of life showing each one where to walk where to avoid. The All “Pro” Pastor has the heart of a shepherd just like Jesus, the “Shepherd”! He knows each one by name and they know his voice. He loves all and loves them each. When he speaks they listen because they know his words bring life and blessings.

Who is an All Pro Pastor? It is the ones who are called by Jesus himself to be his representatives, His ambassadors His faithful ones who live to serve His flock as their very own.

Being a Shepherd is very tiresome and so is being a Pastor. Pastors, we need each other to lean on and to rely on. Join “All Pro Pastors” and start your Champions Table. Experience these life savers for yourself.

Today is the day every Pastor should ask, am I an All Pro Pastor?

 

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If you build it, they will come

 

The US Embassy in Israel is expected to move to Jerusalem this month. The plan is for this to happen in May so that it will coincide with the 70th anniversary of the rebirth of Israel as a nation. The question I want to ask you today is, “If you build (or move) it, will they come?”

Who do you think will come to Jerusalem if the US Embassy is moved there? Many people wonder if President Trump will join the number of people going to Jerusalem to celebrate this special event. From what I understand President Trump has not committed to visiting Israel at this time. But my question has nothing to do with world leaders.

I found an article on the internet where Pres. Abbas (Palestinian Authority) said, “Palestine’s government will fight against Trump’s decision and not let any country to move its embassy to Jerusalem until Palestine-Israel issue is resolved,”

I am curious as to how will they fight this? What will they do to stop any country from moving their embassy to Jerusalem? Will the Palestinians physically do something to stop the American Embassy from moving to Jerusalem? Will they send tanks, rockets and other weapons into Jerusalem to try and stop this from happening?

I have no clue what Abbas will do, but I know for certain that if he does not send tanks, rockets, etc. to attack Jerusalem, someone else will sometime soon.

(Zechariah 12:2) “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling (staggering and stumbling). Judah will be besieged (surrounded, sieged and encircled) as well as Jerusalem.

(Zechariah 14:1 NASB) … For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle

The Bible tells us that nations will surround and invade Jerusalem in hopes of killing all the Jewish people. This is not nice, but it is unavoidable since it is recorded in the Bible. Let’s see what else God has to say about the End Time invasion of Jerusalem.

(Zechariah 12:8-9) “On that day the Lord will shield those who live in Jerusalem, … On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.

(Zechariah 14:1-4 NASB) … For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle …Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east.

Zechariah tells us that God Himself will intervene. He will protect the Jewish people and destroy their enemies. God will not simply orchestrate events to create a victory for the Jewish people, but He Himself will personally fight for the Jewish people. His feet will personally stand on the Mt. of Olives.

(Zechariah 12:10 NASB) “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.

After God defeats the enemies of Israel the Jewish people look on Him who they have pierced and mourn. They probably are shedding tears of sorrow and repentance because they see their Messiah standing before them and notice that His body is pierced. It is not pierced because of a wound he received in this war. It is pierced because He is Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth. The Jewish people realize that their Messiah is King Jesus because His body is pierced (from being crucified at Calvary nearly 2,000 years ago).

First of all, I am very grateful that God Himself personally protects my people in the End Time invasion. But there is more. King Jesus personally returns to fight for the Jewish people, so the attack on Jerusalem is the End Time event God uses to trigger the return of Yeshua.

The return of Yeshua is something every person to belongs to Him should be looking forward to, so God will once again work all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to his purpose.

Are you eagerly waiting for Yeshua to return? If so, keep your eyes on Jerusalem. He will set His feet on the Mt. of Olives when He returns. He will then walk down the mountain and enter Jerusalem through the Eastern Gates. The moving of the American Embassy to Jerusalem has the potential to start the End Time Invasion of Israel. Yeshua could be returning to earth sometime soon. If this is not the event which triggers His return, there will be an invasion on another day and I can’t imagine it taking too long for this to happen. Pack your bags and get ready to go to Jerusalem.

If you would like to learn more about Israel and the End Times invite Rabbi Ron to speak today.

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“Vision: is it received, developed, or discovered?”

Father Theodore Hesburgh, former president of Notre Dame University said, “Vision is the essence of leadership.”

Visionary leadership is knowing where you want to go, how to get there, and the three things required to make it happen: First, having a clear and compelling vision. Second, articulating and modeling it well. Third, getting your team focused and excited about pursuing it.

Above all, you must be confident and consistent, no one follows an uncertain or faint trumpet. Great leaders develop a clear and compelling vision by using one of the following three approaches. You can impose it, buy it, or forge it through persuasive consensus.

One, imposing a vision can be either by demand or persuasion. Teledyne founder, Henry Singleton, believes an organization is built around a mind with an idea that is aware of the key issues of his generation.

Great leaders stay ahead of the curve and lead from the future, not to the future. They are seasoned visionaries, sharpened by their image of the future. Their ability to empower and connect their teams’ everyday efforts to the vision is without question. They guide their organization with confidence and humility, not as overbearing power brokers.

Poor leaders impose their vision through demands often disguised as motivation, but in reality is manipulation. Great leaders’ caste their vision until it becomes the common vision of the team through communication that is vivid and compelling.

Second, you can buy a vision. Consultants will happily create a fashionable mission statement that creates a lot of energy, but few sustainable results. The problem with these “off-the-rack” solutions is they are so generic that they are usually worthless.

Visions can’t be bought like a McDonald’s burger or Starbucks latte. They can’t be a Burger King vision where everyone has it their way. Your team and stakeholders know immediately that you’re trying to sell them a second-hand, cut-and-paste dream that they reject immediately. If they don’t they are naive and of no real value, you need to release them.

Third, forging a vision. This happens through leadership consensus by encouraging broad contributions in putting flesh on the skeleton you provide. This produces a vision that’s the most enduring and effective for long term sustainable results.

At the end of the process you want a vision that is not only compelling, but energizes great buy-in by the core leaders and all the stakeholders. You don’t forge a vision overnight, but through patience, perseverance, and passion.

If you can’t get your team’s energized buy-in to the vision, ask yourself the following questions. How passionate am I about it? How often do I show it to them, not just in locker room pep talks, but through my daily actions? How much did I ask the team to contribute in the process

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Religion, Science and the Future of Transhumanism

By Dr. Thomas Horn

 

Recently, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science featured a piece written by Professor S. Jonathon O’Donnell in the Department of Religion and Philosophies at the University of London titled, “Secularizing Demons: Fundamentalist Navigations in Religion and Secularity.”

O’Donnell’s aim? According to the article’s abstract, it was to explore at a deeper level than his peers the “anti-transhumanist apocalypticisms” of our day, the central voice behind which was identified as yours truly—“evangelical conspiracist Thomas Horn [and his] milieu [community gathering place]”

In other words, the University of London professor has determined that I and those who work with me at SkyWatch TV and Defender Publishing are the “leaders of the transhuman resistance” that members of that community had better pay attention to. The peer-reviewed Zygon agreed at least to the point they found reason to promulgate O’Donnell’s thesis.

A title such as this placed upon me and the associates within “my milieu” is, I assure you, not as offensive as it may seem. Quite the contrary, I am encouraged that my line of work in the media has captured the attention of renowned spokespersons of the scientific world—such as those deemed worthy of being featured in Zygon. The very fact that personalities of such high regard and academic acumen are addressing what I’ve concluded throughout my career proves that my work is worth addressing. If I was completely off the mark out in La-la Land, I may still gain attention for being an agitator, but to persons such as O’Donnell, I would simply be considered inconsequential and not worth the precious time it takes for them to write such a detailed response to my convictions. Likewise I am deeply flattered to see how mostly professionally and fairly my stance on the subject was handled, as I nearly expected this to be yet another “hit piece” upon myself and my associates. Most naysayers who have come against our work have formulated little more than a straw man’s argument. It’s clear by their retaliation that they haven’t truly read my work to begin with. They assume—errantly so—that we are just religious men and women who cry “sin” against anything laboratory-created as it doesn’t innately have the hand of God upon it. Such may not have been the case for O’Donnell. Much to my surprise, O’Donnell did not appear to be driven by the sole desire to paint me as a half-witted lunatic like some others have done throughout recent history. For that, I openly offer my gratitude.

There was, however, a few intrinsic flaws in his conclusions about us and our “demonologies” of transhumanism and secularism that we will discuss in this and the next couple magazines.

Why?

Because in 2018 we will: 1) host a conference in Branson, Missouri (this September, more info coming soon) where scientists, artificial intelligence developers, technologists and theologians will gather to inform the public on the ramifications of the soon coming technological singularity; 2) release a book on the subject by members of “The Milieu,” and 3) broadcast a month long Special Investigative SkyWatch TV Report on the hottest issues involving transhumanism and Christianity. This magazine will guide and apprise our readers on the most germane subject matter as things develop in the weeks and months ahead.

But Back to professor O’Donnell and his thesis for the time being.

There is always an inherent fallacy when a personality trained in the scientifically oriented school of “show me proof/evidence” analyzes a stance based on religious conviction, particularly as it relates to eschatological prophecy and ruminations about events that have not yet occurred. It will probably always be this way on this side of eternity, since what we “evangelical conspiracists” see written on the wall regarding the scriptural warnings of God aren’t impartially considered amidst the “proofs” and “evidences” of science. It’s no secret that science recurrently discounts religion, and by extension any conclusion that a religious spokesperson may come to. Though I wouldn’t immediately accuse O’Donnell of it personally, well-learned academics heavily entrenched in the scientific community or its publications quite frequently respond to religious concerns with “intellectual snobbery.” And we’re not guiltless on the religious end either, as many a minister will immediately regard people who place their faith in science with an air of “moral snobbery.” It should not have to be this way, but it is a reality perpetuated just as much or more by the Church than by the secular world as I see it. Religion—especially conventional Christianity—recurrently discounts science, and though I understand why, I think this is an unnecessary tragedy. Many preachers and teachers of the Church today distance themselves from addressing scientific development and discovery (and the more “fringe” the topic, such as transhumanism, the greater the distancing) because the Bible is always the final authority, so “science is irrelevant when it contradicts Scripture,” or so the thought process relates. On the other hand, the world at large (including Christians) considers most aspects of transhumanism (and science in general) to be enormously important to our current, and future, generations, so it matters a great deal. How sad, then, that any minister willing to tackle the “fringe” topics is seen as a conspiracy-theorist whacko (often by the Church as well) instead of the man with the salve that could potentially help heal some of the festering tension between secular and religious people groups.  

In many cases, such as a pastor of a local congregation whose duty is primarily to sharpen the Body of Christ and spread the Good News of our Savior, speaking of transhumanism and its potential travesties might be a distraction from what he or she is personally called and gifted to do. Though, there remains to be a massive deficit of voices on the God-fearing end of the spectrum that choose to stand in opposition to certain aspects of transhumanism and its prospective travesties, and the result of this is a tragedy in itself. When so few spokespeople of the Gospel are willing to address such important issues in the secular sphere: 1) Believers have nobody on their side to tell them why or how these scientific developments are immoral and possibly devastating, and they are therefore misled to support what they don’t know the Bible expressly forbids; 2) nonbelieving agitators against religion have that much more reason to blast the world with the claim that the Church is outdated and irrelevant; and 3) those who may or may not feel convicted to believe in or follow God already (or those who have yet to even consider what they believe) have a scarce few intelligent, educated theological responders to listen to and guide them (most of whom are already squelched by a “conspiracist” label) and therefore have no reason to see Christianity as anything more than an archaic system of beliefs that can’t relate to the modern world they live in.

The more a minister of the Word compares Scripture to science and the convictions and agendas therein, the more Scripture proves itself to be true from the beginning, so really, a minister’s attention toward what is happening in laboratories across the globe today should not be as intimidating as it has become anyway—yet it appears that hardly anyone in the mainstream Church takes this position. Ministers are missing a great opportunity here to reach those who are confused about what Scripture actually says on the subject…

I don’t wish to insinuate that it is every Gospel minister’s responsibility to drop everything and start preaching about the inner-workings of every sinister scientific organization and the impending dooms that may be birthed from them (and as I said prior, this might prove to be a distraction away from many ministers’ personal callings), but it is my goal in this thread of thought to point out that there have been so very few ministers of the Gospel that have stood up to address these issues for all three people groups just mentioned—which covers all three known categories of people in existence (believers, nonbelievers, and those who haven’t decided yet).

I can’t say that I blame anyone. To take the bull by the horns and speak out regarding the concerns of modern science is a risky move, and it places one in a minority position. My opinions and concerns about the incoming “replacement humans” are often disregarded or staunchly opposed by the scientific community (and lay readers who follow it), despite the fact that a great deal of my arguments have been solidly based on what concern-flags the scientific community has raised in the first place. (As for me or my associates being labeled “conspiratists,” a conspiracy is not a conspiracy when there’s proof, and much of my research traces back to the horse’s mouth, so that label largely cancels itself out if we’re all willing to be honest here…) A minister can quote from the same ten science journals in a row and identify the same impending catastrophes as a secular spokesperson on any given day, but between these two voices, by default of his religious distinction, the minister’s warnings may be discarded by the mainstream who believe his conclusions to be born out of a sacred duty that many believers don’t yet fully comprehend, and toward a God that nonbelievers need not heed. He or she has become a part of the minority, much like many of the prophets in the Old Testament when the majority of Israelites were so consumed with pagan revelry that the warnings of God fell to the wayside until it was too late—and seasons of great tribulation followed every time. (In the case of transhumanistic sciences, however, we are not talking about “seasons” of tribulation, but potentially a permanent and unchangeable reality that no petri dish or super-computer on the planet can reverse.)

I can certainly relate to this—not because I equate myself with an Old Testament prophet, but because I have attempted to raise awareness of irreversible dangers transhumanism poses to the human race that God designed and have watched as, over the years, many have ignored the warnings I believe God persuaded me to put out there. How exciting and flattering, then, that my warnings have been heeded by a man in O’Donnell’s position who finds it necessary to concentrate upon and attend to the research I’ve compiled regarding the relationship between today’s “Promethean faith” (transhumanistic ideals of “playing God” by redesigning His creation; more clarification on this later) and the clear-cut commands of God against some of these practices as addressed in the Word—even as early as Genesis.

Thus, starting in the next edition of SkyWatch Magazine I’ll begin a series of articles to address everything from the nearness of technological singularity to the ethics Christians and conservative philosophers will need to deal with… and sooner than most imagine.

 

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How to avoid being overworked and feeling overwhelmed.”

Poor leaders find themselves running out of time while their direct reports lack motivation and are running out of productive work.  Great leadership is not about your personal production but your team’s production, especially when you are not around.
Delegation and deferring are two of your most important strengths as a leader. Doing them well is a must for providing effective leadership and significant success.  Great leaders spend less time “doing” and invest most of their time planning, organizing resources and coaching their team to do the “doing.”
There is a major difference between delegating and deferring.  Delegating means you still own some responsibility for the results, deferring means you give the task away without any further responsibility.  Great leaders use both and know when and how to use them.
Some warning signs you need to improve your delegating skills:
1. Your in-box is always full with work only YOU can do.
2. Delegated assignments are often incomplete and deadlines missed.
3. Direct reports feel they lack authority, resources and empowerment.
4. You constantly second guess your team members’ decisions.
5. Team morale is low, turnover rates rising and people lack motivation.
6. You frequently intervene in work you previously delegated or deferred.
7. Team members feel unprepared and are not taking full responsibility.
Tips for delegating effectively:
1. Recognize and affirm the capabilities of your team for their assignments.
2. Focus on results, not how tasks should be accomplished.
3. Use delegation to develop the skills of your team members and position them for advancement.
4. Always delegate or defer to the lowest level possible.
5. Explain assignments clearly and provide necessary resources.
6. Provide consistent feedback, emotional support during tough times and celebrate all wins, big or small.
7. Defer more, give away responsibility for results and avoid the comebacks.
Overworked and overwhelmed leaders are leaders who failed to learn how to delegate and defer effectively.
As a result your best people leave you because they are bored, you hold back the development of your good people and your average team members are burned up, or burned out because of trying to do it all.
How are you feeling as you start a new week?
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Why Jerusalem is the Capital!

In December, President Trump declared, “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people.” This statement made Jerusalem Headline News once again. On December 6, one CNN Headline read, “Trump’s Jerusalem decision promises upheaval.” Hand it to CNN News to predict the future. This declaration about Jerusalem rattled, upset, unnerved and disturbed people all over the world. Why is this so?

People, including Christians are asking questions about Jerusalem once again. As a result, I’ve been researching the Scriptures to see what God says about Jerusalem. I have already compiled 22 pages of notes in a Word Document. I’m contacting leaders to see if they’d like me to speak about Jerusalem right now. Let me give you a little taste of what I’ve found.

(Genesis 12:1) The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

God told Abram to pack his bags and move since He wanted to give Abram a new home as a gift.

(Genesis 12:6-7, chapter 15) In these verses God lists some of the land He is giving to Israel.

(Genesis 17:8) The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

God specifically told Abram what land He was giving him, and He told Abram that his new homeland was an everlasting possession. The lease would never expire; it would belong to Abram’s descendants forever.

In Leviticus 26 God told the Jewish people that when they sin, God would scatter them around the world. But He also said that their removal from the land would only be temporary, brief and short-lived. They may suffer, but they will never be completely destroyed. God promised that He would never break His covenant with Israel. And God specifically brought up the land of Israel when promising to restore them.

More than 2,600 years ago Ezekiel prophesied (in Ezekiel 26) about the physical and spiritual rebirth of Israel. God promised to bring the Jewish people back to the exact same land He gave their ancestors. He used the words, “your own land.” In the Living Bible it says, “For I will bring you back home again to the land of Israel.”

Other nations cannot take the land of Israel, and tell the Jewish people they’ll recommend a good realtor who’ll help them find another place to live. The land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people and it is their eternal home. The physical rebirth of Israel took place on May 14, 1948. Then in 1967 Israel regained control of Jerusalem from Jordan. As expected, God kept His promise to the people of Israel.

When people disobey God they will be punished. They can be harmed and hurt. Haman, Hitler and hordes of horrible people have hurt Israel, but God will never allow anyone to completely destroy Israel, or keep their land forever. A few times in the Bible God says He will remember (or remind Himself of) His covenant with Israel. He also says He will remember the land. Possessing the land of Israel is part of God’s Covenant with the Jewish people. The people and the land are inseparable!

God’s message of the restoration of Israel is not limited to the book of Ezekiel. God also told Jeremiah, Isaiah, Zechariah and Paul the same thing. The Bible is filled with promises from God that He would bring the Jewish people back to the land He gave our ancestors. The land He gave our ancestors, includes Jerusalem. God also promised to spiritually restore the Jewish people as well.

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Pastors and Workplace Ministers, Now Hear Me! Thus says the Lord!

This is a local message written by one of our ministry partners in Florida. Its message is worldwide in meaning. Pastors and business owners need to link arms and listen to each other. Great wisdom can be shared and learned, he who has ears hear! Paul

A MESSAGE TO THE “BODY OF CHRIST”

To all Christians who are working in the marketplace I ask these questions –

Whom are you aligned with? Real Christians or unbelievers?

What Marketplace Group do you meet with regularly for encouragement and inspiration?

Are you a blessing to other Christians in the marketplace by doing business with them? By praying for them? By recommending them? Do you even know what the family next to you in church does for a living?

We are so divided, it is a JOKE! The people of the world, the unbelievers and the unchurched laugh at us. Then we fight on FB about doctrines we disagree on & sometimes ignore the doctrines where we agree! And the unbelievers only remember the ridiculous disagreements & arguments we have with each other. Unity of the believer? Listen to what Jesus prayed for – John 17:20-21 – 20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will[e] believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. It’s very clear. Is it possible that the world may not believe that God the Father sent Jesus? Surely the unity of the believer is not that important? Father help us!!

We call ourselves marketplace ministers but, do you pray for your customers? And I don’t just mean when you are alone in your car, but when you are with them, to bless and minister to them? Or are you ashamed of your faith, afraid to speak the truth? Or are you afraid God won’t answer your prayers and you will be embarrassed? Have you lost your “first love”? Where is your “Holy Boldness”?

God help us, the Body of Christ, the “Church”. We have allowed unbelievers to take over “Our” culture, our cities, our counties, our state, our nation, our schools, our justice system, our courts, our seats of government, federal, state & local agencies on every level and we say “ How evil everything has become”.

“I wish God would just Beam me up”!

We are standing here at the beginning of what “I believe” is the greatest opportunity in our lives to see a real turnaround in our culture. And we can be a part of it — not if we are “Beamed Up” but if we are “Beaming” from ear to ear with the awesome things God is doing in our midst!

It’s time to bring the Body of Christ together in every way possible. We have left it up to the Pastors and they are trying; but it’s not just up to them.

We see many of our brothers and sisters working in the marketplace that we feel should be aligned with and connecting with us but just haven’t for their own reasons. Maybe they are looking for groups that provide many business leads for them so they can grow their own businesses. I understand that, but don’t join with them to the exclusion of your brothers & sisters in Christ.

I must tell you, there is nothing better than to help others meet their goals by praying for them, encouraging them, doing business with them and seeing the result —SUCCESS! And who better to do that for than another Christian!

Let’s face it, if you help a nonbeliever become financially successful, what Kingdom would they be supporting. They are either supporting the Kingdom of God or a different Kingdom, maybe even the Kingdom of darkness. Is that what you want? “Will they be praying for the customers you refer to them? You think? Will they be sharing the gospel with anyone? Will they be praying for the sick to be healed?

Let’s be real. That is not going to happen.

Some would say, well I don’t want to discriminate. I want to give my leads and my business to unbelievers as much as believers. Really? That’s NOT scriptural! God says in Galatians 6:9 -11 ; And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” What part of “especially” do we not understand? We can still do good to all, but prefer our brothers & sisters in Christ. Or you can just consider that verse a suggestion?

Find a Christian business networking group that you can be part of if you want to be part of that unity. If you don’t know of a good group full of Bible believing, tithing believers who are members of part of a fellowship that they are accountable to and support regularly then check us out.

At Integrity Business Referrals, we are doing the little bit we can to create unity in the Body. Our group consists of business people, ministry leaders and pastors coming together from over 30 churches to help each other in every way possible to

“BRING IN THE HARVEST” MONEY AND SOULS!! We are in unity so that the world will know that the Father sent Jesus!

Call us. IBR – 863-521-3360. Go to our website www.IBR77.com , see us on FB – Integrity Business Referrals or come to one of our meetings. Find out the benefits of unity of the believer in the marketplace & get really connected to what God is doing in our midst!

2018 – ALL NEW BEGINNINGS! GOD IS ON THE MOVE!

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“Developing Leaders versus gathering Followers”

According to the American Society of Training and Development, U.S.A. companies and organizations, profit and nonprofit, spend more than $170 Billion annually on leadership-based curriculum and training.
“Training” is the number one reason leadership development fails.
You don’t train leaders, you develop leaders. You train animals who have very little, if any, reasoning power.  When you treat people, especially your future leaders, like animals and try to train them rather than develop them as independent thinkers, your leadership development grinds to a halt.
Training presumes the need for indoctrination on systems, processes and techniques assuming all of that is “doing things the right way.” These things have value, but they have little to do with leadership development. It’s more like management training than leadership development.
Training workshops are too often by the book, one dimensional, one directional and one size fits all. This describes an authoritarian process that imposes static and usually outdated information, but does little to develop leaders who can create a compelling future, build a passionate team and find a way to win without a manual.
Most over-priced training workshops are presented by an untested and inexperienced professional presenter using a monologue and rarely goes off script. Scripts contain good training information, but battle-tested veterans are still your best bet for developing future leaders. It’s called “Follow the leader,” not follow the book.
Worst of all, this training usually occurs in a classroom driven by someone else’s “best practices,” not the needs of your future leaders. You cannot develop a leader in a classroom, seminar or workshop. Those venues are for dispensing information and then testing to see if the participants understand that generic information.
Leaders are developed under live fire. Leaders need good information, however, if you want to know if they really understand it, see how they do when the bullets are flying. There’s an old parable that says, “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach him how to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”
The same is true for leadership. Develop a leader for a generation and that generation thrives. Develop leaders in every generation and that organization thrives for many generations to come.
Never let your desire to “grow” your organization distract you from your main purpose, developing new leaders. Leaders that create a new path forward, not managers attracting followers who only make the current ruts deeper. Sustainable growth always outlasts explosive growth.
“Praised be the Lord, who has allowed me to see a successor on my throne today.” 1 Kings 1:47
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The Tower of Babel: Abode of the Gods

The Tower of Babel: Abode of the Gods

 

Not all the holy mountains in the history of the world are natural, formed by the shifting of tectonic plates or the sudden, catastrophic opening of “the fountains of the great deep.” The Tower of Babel was one such artificial mountain. Babel was humanity’s attempt to force its way back into the divine council.

At Babel, mankind tried to storm the castle of God.

For generations, well-meaning Bible teachers have presented the story of Babel as an object lesson on the dangers of pride. Those foolish people were so arrogant they thought they could build a tower high enough to reach heaven!

With all due respect to those teachers, that’s an insult to the intelligence of our ancestors, if you think about it. And it’s a disservice to people in church who want to know why Yahweh was so offended by this project. Really? God is that insecure?

Look, if big egos were enough to bring God to Earth, He’d never leave.

Babel was not a matter of God taking down some people who’d gotten too big for their britches. The clue to the sin of Babel is in the name.

Remember, the Hebrew prophets loved to play with language. We often find words in the Bible that sound like the original but make a statement—for example, Beelzebub (“lord of the flies”) instead of Beelzebul (“Ba`al the prince”), or Ish-bosheth (“man of a shameful thing”) instead of Ishbaal (“man of Ba`al”). Likewise, the original Akkadian words bāb ilu, which means “gate of god” or “gate of the gods,” is replaced in the Bible with Babel, which is based on the Hebrew word meaning “confusion.”

Now, there’s a bit of misinformation that must be corrected about the Tower of Babel: Babel was not in Babylon.

It’s an easy mistake to make. The names sound alike, and Babylon is easily the most famous city of the ancient world. It’s also got a bad reputation, especially to Jews and Christians. Babylon, under the megalomaniacal king Nebuchadnezzar, sacked the Temple in Jerusalem and carried off the hardware for temple service. It makes sense to assume that a building project so offensive that God personally intervened must have been built at Babylon.

But there’s a problem with linking Babylon to the Tower of Babel: Babylon didn’t exist when the tower was built. It didn’t even become a city until about a thousand years after the tower incident, and even then it was an unimportant village for about another 500 years.

Traditions and sources outside the Bible identify the builder of the tower as the shadowy figure named Nimrod. Our best guess is he lived sometime between 3500 and 3100 B.C., a period of history called the Uruk Expansion. This tracks with what little the Bible tells us about Nimrod. In Genesis 10:10, we read “the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.”

The land of Shinar is Sumer and Erech is Uruk. Uruk was so important to human history that Nimrod’s homeland is still called Uruk, five thousand years later! We just spell it differently—Iraq.

Accad was the capital city of the Akkadians, which still hasn’t been found, but was somewhere between Babylon and ancient Assyria. Babylon itself was northwest of Uruk, roughly three hundred miles from the Persian Gulf in what is today central Iraq. But it wasn’t founded until around 2300 B.C., at least 700 years after Nimrod, and it wasn’t Babylon as we think about it until the old Babylonian empire emerged in the early part of the 2ndmillennium B.C.

So where should we look for the Tower of Babel?

The oldest and largest ziggurat in Mesopotamia was at Eridu, the first city built in Mesopotamia. Scholars put its founding at around 5400 B.C. In recent years, scholars have learned that the name Babylon was interchangeable with other city names, including Eridu. So “Babylon” didn’t always refer to the city of Babylon in ancient texts.

Artist’s conception of how the never-completed ziggurat at Eridu might have looked

 

 

 

Eridu never dominated the political situation in Sumer after the reigns of its first two kings, Alulim and Alalgar. But as the home city of Enki, god of fresh water, wisdom, and magic, Eridu was so important to Mesopotamian culture that more than three thousand years after Alalgar, Hammurabi the Great was crowned not in Babylon, but in Eridu—even though it had ceased to be a city about three hundred years earlier.

Even as late as the time of Nebuchadnezzar, 1,100 years after Hammurabi, the kings of Babylon still sometimes called themselves LUGAL.NUNki—King of Eridu.

Why? What was the deal with Eridu?

Archaeologists have uncovered eighteen levels of the temple to Enki at Eridu. The oldest levels of the E-abzu, a small structure less than ten feet square, date to the founding of the city. And consider that the spot remained sacred to Enki long after the city was deserted around 2000 B.C. The temple remained in use until the 5th century B.C., nearly five thousand years after the first crude altar was built to accept offerings of fish to Enki, the god of the subterranean aquifer, the abzu.

Now, this is where we tell you that abzu (ab = water + zu = deep) is very likely where we get our English word “abyss.” And the name Enki is a compound word. En is Sumerian for “lord,” and ki is the word for “earth.” Thus, Enki, god of the abzu, was “lord of the earth.”

Do you remember Jesus calling someone “the ruler of this world”?  Or Paul referring to “the god of this world”?  Who were they talking about?

Yeah. Satan.

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Here’s another piece to our puzzle:  Nimrod was of the second generation after the flood. His father was Cush, son of Ham, son of Noah. In Sumerian history, the second king of Uruk after the flood was named Enmerkar, son of Mesh-ki-ang-gasher.

Now, get this:  An epic poem from about 2000 B.C. called Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta preserves the basic details of the Tower of Babel story, including the confusion of language among the people of Sumer.

We don’t know exactly where Aratta was, but guesses range from northern Iran to Armenia. (Which would be interesting. Not only is Armenia located near the center of an ancient kingdom called Urartu, which may be a cognate for Aratta, it’s where Noah landed his boat—the mountains of Ararat. So it’s possible Nimrod/Enmerkar was trying to intimidate the people—his cousins, basically—who settled near where his great-grandfather landed the ark. But we just don’t know.)  Wherever it was, Enmerkar muscled this neighboring kingdom to compel them to send building materials for a couple of projects near and dear to his heart.

Besides building a fabulous temple for Inanna, the goddess of, well, prostitutes, Enmerkar/Nimrod also wanted to expand and upgrade Enki’s abzu—the abyss.

“Let the people of Aratta bring down for me the mountain stones from their mountain, build the great shrine for me, erect the great abode for me, make the great abode, the abode of the gods, famous for me, make my me prosper in Kulaba, make the abzu grow for me like a holy mountain, make Eridug (Eridu) gleam for me like the mountain range, cause the abzu shrine to shine forth for me like the silver in the lode. When in the abzu I utter praise, when I bring the me from Eridug, when, in lordship, I am adorned with the crown like a purified shrine, when I place on my head the holy crown in Unug Kulaba, then may the …… of the great shrine bring me into the jipar, and may the …… of the jipar bring me into the great shrine. May the people marvel admiringly, and may Utu (the sun god) witness it in joy.”1 (Emphasis added)

 

That’s the issue Yahweh had with it right there. This tower project wasn’t about hubris or pride; it was to build the “abode of the gods” right on top of the abzu.

Could Nimrod have succeeded? Ask yourself: Why did Yahweh find it necessary to personally put a stop to it? A lot of magnificent pagan temples were built in the ancient world, many of them copying the pyramid-like shape of the ziggurats, from Mesopotamia to Mesoamerica. Why did God stop this one?

We can only speculate, of course, but God had a good reason or we wouldn’t have a record of it in the Bible. Calling Babel a sin of pride is easy, but it drains the story of its spiritual and supernatural context.

In the view of this author, the evidence is compelling. It’s time to correct the history we’ve been taught since Sunday School:  Babel was not at Babylon, it was at Eridu. The tower was the temple of the god Enki, Lord of the Earth, the god of the abyss. Its purpose was to create an artificial mount of assembly, the abode of the gods, to which humans had access.

That was something that Yahweh could not allow.

1 Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Fluckiger-Hawker, E, Robson, E., and Zólyomi, G. Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.8.2.3#), retrieved 12/17/16.

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Prayer is a MUST for Godly Leadership – part 1

There are many principles and keys to successful Christian leadership but most are not as vital as prayer. Prayer is one of the most powerful communication tools given to man to use to commune with our heavenly father. Do not burden yourself by attempting to pray as good or as fluent as some of your ministerial colleagues or spiritual mentors. Simply ask the Holy Spirit to help you pray as best as you can. The ever wise Holy Spirit will teach you Psalm 32:8 “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye”, and will divinely connect you with those who will help sharpen and perfect YOUR praying style. Diligently learn from those God has brought into your life, but learn as led by the Holy Spirit. When I attempted to pray as some of the prayer warriors I respected, I did not connect with the Lord as I expected. When I trusted the Holy Spirit to help me pray based on what He and others taught me, then I truly felt the power of God as I prayed. This is the best type of praying leader you should desire to be, the one God has ordained you to become.

Jesus Christ, our Lord and best example of how to obey God prayed while he was on earth. Jesus prayed for himself in John 17:1-2 “Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.” Jesus also prayed for his disciples as shown in John 17:9-10 “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them”.  One of my deepest desires is for every pastor and ministry leader to be able to prayer this prayer as often as needed. This particular prayer emphasizes the accountability we have to God for those given to us, but more importantly clarifies that we are simply custodians for these truly belong to God our father. Finally Jesus prayed for all believers in John 17:20-21 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me”.

I offer these 3 examples in John 17 to highlight the importance of praying for ourselves John 17:1-5, praying for those God has ordained us to lead, John 17:6-19 and also praying for those whom will believe in Jesus in John 17:20-26. This is one of the best examples of God’s expectation of prayer from his servant leaders. Take the time to read study and meditate on John 17 for Jesus provides profound guidelines for mastering the essentials of prayer for these 3 categories of his children which are most important to our mission on earth.

I have seen the biggest results in my life when I pray according to God’s mission for me and those he has called me to lead. Let’s be clear, God is certainly concerned about our personal welfare, such as health and family success and balance. He is also highly interested in us praying for his will in our lives and the lives he has mandated us to lead. I trust you will experience the glory of God as you use John 17 to pray for yourself, your disciples and those who will believe in our Lord and Savior.

Shalom and Glory to you.

Join us next time for part 2 which explores the root reasons for prayer in our current challenging environment.

 

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