LIVE LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY!

Wow! “Live Like a Champion” is a book that will help you stretch and be challenged to all God has created you to be! Dr. Jerry Ingalls, Pastor, National Champion Athlete, US Olympian, Author and so much more, has packed into his latest book the basic steps God has ordained for each of us to follow to become His Champions!

He has masterfully written from a Champion Athletes perspective what it takes for anyone to become a true Champion. The disciplines he lines out are taken directly from God’s Word. The instructions he has laid out covers a 40 day challenge that every Pastor should embrace and utilize to make Champion Disciples.

Dr. Ingalls presents God as our Coach and us as Athletes in training. He even identifies where the Bible uses this comparison in easy to understand examples.

As a National Champion representing the United States he shares stories of success and falling short, but most of all how he learned from each life experience.

Pastors and Leaders, I respectfully invite you(challenge you) to join me as I embrace “Live Like a Champion Today” as our 2023 discipline. I ask you to take the 40 day challenge as outlined in the book. I also challenge you to create a “Champions Table” that will hold you accountable and be your encouragers too. In the book we see God as the Coach but we also see the importance of teammates and unity.

“Live Like a Champion Today” is easy to read and understand but it will take some discipline to finish the challenge strong!

This year we are praying that Pastors all across America will have the courage to join our Table of Champions network and start their own Champions Table. What about you? This powerful book could be your ticket to changing you and your life forever. Embrace the challenge to be a true Champion for your spouse, your children, your church and community and most of all your Lord Jesus Christ!

To learn more visit here!

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Left Behind, Rise of the AntiChrist!

“Left Behind, Rise of the AntiChrist” is based on a true story! (coming our way soon)The Bible states that there will be a sudden and unexpected Vanishing (or Rapturing) away of millions of people some day. It talks about specific deceptions that will take place and the masses will be fooled or frightened into believing anything. The Bible also tells of a Global government that will rule and a powerful leader will captivate nearly everyone. In this movie the antichrist is introduced in a very realistic and terrifying way. It is done in a way to shake everyone up, it needs to seen by everyone!

Left Behind, Rise of the AntiChrist, will bring you to the edge of your seat as you see that what is happening today can clearly be seen as the fulfilling of biblical prophesy. But how will our unbelieving friends and family learn and accept this as truth? This movie takes us on a journey with several individuals who share in this same doubt. Some of them are agnostic or atheistic in their attitudes and are left with many unanswered questions after the vanishings. Our main characters, Buck, Ray, Chloe and Pastor Bruce Barnes each have to deal with the lies and deceptions being thrown at them as well as their personal search for the real truth. Each of them had heard the truth before and rejected it! Many of our friends and relatives are exactly like Ray, Buck and Chloe. They have heard about God and been to church but have still rejected Christ. Each one of our movie characters, including a pastor, has to now face reality!

This movie is action packed with high energy and a powerful thought provoking storyline that no one can ignore! Left Behind is entertaining yet has the most important message in the world. As a pastor and ministry we want to encourage you to make this your opportunity to take family and friends even your entire church to watch this movie. Use it as a special outreach to your community.

Pastors, it is the perfect time to preach on the return of Jesus and how that will look? Take the opportunity to have small group discussions breaking down parts of the movie and see how it lines up with God’s word. Many people will have questions after seeing it. Be prepared to answer and introduce them to Christ. Start looking in the website: www.LeftBehindmovie.com for Resources and Sermon ideas.

If at all possible buy out an entire theater in your town. This not only encourages your church to come and bring a friend but it is a testimony to the theater owners about what Christians are looking for.

You may ask, why are you doing this? Truth is, we don’t want you or anyone Left Behind!

What about you? Watch the Trailer Here!

 

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The Philosophical and Theosophical Roots of Ancient Aliens

The materialist ideals of the Greeks manifested in the rejection of a supernatural source
for the Bible. And, the argument went, if those books were not inspired, then the words in
them were free to be reinterpreted or discarded based on human reason.
Likewise, supernatural experiences were open to interpretation based on human wisdom,
without being filtered through comparison to the Word of God. This resulted in the odd mix
of science and spiritism that is the legacy of Emanuel Swedenborg, an 18 th century Swedish
scientist, philosopher, and mystic. He was undoubtedly brilliant, but sometimes the brilliant
are blinded by their own light.
Swedenborg’s theology encompasses the following concepts:
• The Bible is the Word of God; however, its true meaning differs greatly from its
obvious meaning. Furthermore, he and only he, via the help of Angels, was in the
position to shed light upon the true meaning and message of the Scriptures.
• Swedenborg believed that the world of matter is a laboratory for the soul, where
the material is used to “force-refine” the spiritual.
• In many ways, Swedenborg was quite universal in his concepts, for he believed
that all religious systems have their divine duty and purpose and that this is not
the sole virtue of Christianity.
• Swedenborg believed that the mission of the Church is necessary inasmuch as,
left to his or her own devices, humanity simply cannot work out its relationship to
God.
• He saw the real power of Christ’s life in the example it gave to others and
vehemently rejected the concept of Christian atonement and original sin. 1
Swedenborg believed the angels who contacted him lived elsewhere in the solar system.
To this day, the Swedenborg Foundation offers a modern translation of the mystic’s 1758
work Life on Other Planets, a book that “details Swedenborg’s conversations with spirits
from Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Saturn, Venus, and the moon, who discuss their lives on other
planets and how their cultures differed from those of earthly life.” 2 Swedenborg’s teachings
on spiritism and angelic ETIs are still around, although rebranded as The New Church.
It’s a small sect, maybe 10,000 worldwide, but is the idea of angels on Jupiter
communicating through visions any stranger than ETIs from “the contiguous universe”
sending messages for the president of the United States through a retired NASA astronaut?
No, it is not. And that really happened. (See the Wikileaks release of John Podesta’s
emails—Dr. Edgar Mitchell, sixth man to walk on the moon, was convinced that “celestials”
from “a nonviolent contiguous universe” were trying to get in touch with President Obama.) 3

Of course, Swedenborg, who died in 1772, wasn’t the last word in the rise of mystic
scientism. Others with a belief in the link between humanity and life from the stars included
Joseph Smith, who founded Mormonism about fifty years after Swedenborg’s death. The
cosmology developed by Smith included the existence of many worlds. God to Smith was
flesh and blood, 4 formerly a mortal man who’d earned godhood and, apparently, the right to
create multiple earths.
29 And [Moses] beheld many lands; and each land was called earth, and there were
inhabitants on the face thereof.
30 And it came to pass that Moses called upon God, saying: Tell me, I pray thee, why
these things are so, and by what thou madest them?
31 And behold, the glory of the Lord was upon Moses, so that Moses stood in the
presence of God, and talked with him face to face. And the Lord God said unto
Moses: For mine own purpose have I made these things. Here is wisdom and it
remaineth in me.
32 And by the word of my power, have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten
Son, who is full of grace and truth.
33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own
purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.
34 And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many. 5
A full analysis of the Church of Latter Day Saints is more than we can tackle in this
book, but just consider: A two-hundred-year-old religion that claims 15 million
adherents—one of whom, Mitt Romney, might have been president of the United
States—officially teaches that there are many inhabited earths scattered throughout the
universe. As we’ll see, the Mormon church isn’t the only one that blends its theology with a
belief in extraterrestrial life.
Beginning with the Second Great Awakening in the 1790s, which was itself a reaction to
the rationalism and deism of the Enlightenment, 19 th century America saw successive waves
of spiritual movements roll across the United States, spreading from east to west like
supernatural tsunamis. A series of revivals, cults, and camp meetings followed European
settlers westward as the country grew and prospered. The raw, unspoiled nature of the
frontier contributed to a desire to restore Christianity to a purer form, free from the formality
and hierarchy of the churches of Europe.
The Second Great Awakening, which swelled the numbers of Baptists and Methodists
especially, peaked by the middle of the 19 th century, but other spiritual movements followed
close behind. The spiritualist movement, which emerged from the same region of western
New York state that produced Joseph Smith and the Church of Latter-Day Saints, the so-

called Burned-over District, first appeared in the late 1840s. Sisters Kate and Margaret Fox,
ages 12 and 15, claimed to communicate with spirits through coded knocks or “rappings.”
They convinced their 17-year-old sister, Leah (or brought her in on the gag), who took charge
of the younger two and managed their careers for years.
The Fox sisters not only enjoyed long careers as mediums, they left a legacy that
continues to this day in the work of television mediums like John Edward, Theresa Caputo,
and Tyler Henry. In fact, as we’ll discuss in a later chapter, communications from
disembodied spirits is a much larger part of the modern UFO movement than serious
researchers are comfortable with. And this, despite the fact that Margaret and Kate admitted
in 1888 that they’d invented the whole thing:
“That I have been chiefly instrumental in perpetrating the fraud of Spiritualism upon
a too-confiding public, most of you doubtless know. The greatest sorrow in my life
has been that this is true, and though it has come late in my day, I am now prepared to
tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God! . . I am here
tonight as one of the founders of Spiritualism to denounce it as an absolute falsehood
from beginning to end, as the flimsiest of superstitions, the most wicked blasphemy
known to the world.” 6
The Fox sisters used a variety of techniques to produce the sounds that fooled gullible
audiences into believing that spirits answered their questions, one of which was simply
cracking their toe joints. 7 But even after their confession was published by a New York City
newspaper, the spiritualist movement never skipped a beat. To this day, “many accounts of
the Fox sisters leave out their confession of fraud and present the rappings as genuine
manifestations of the spirit world.” 8
In other words, the movement lives on even though its founders admitted their act was as
real as professional wrestling.
Why were Americans and Brits, who likewise flocked to stage shows featuring mediums
and psychics, so eager to believe? Scholars speculate that the Industrial Revolution led
people to explore spiritual frontiers to find meaning in rapidly changing lives. 9 Its quick
adoption by prominent Quakers in New York tied the Spiritualist movement to several radical
religious causes, including abolition (which may be why it never caught on widely in the
South) and women’s rights.
Whatever the cause of its popularity, the Spiritualist movement continued into the 20 th
century and attracted some well-known believers. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of
Sherlock Holmes, was one; in fact, Doyle wrote The History of Spiritualism in 1926, and he
pegged March 31, 1848—the very first time Kate and Margaret Fox claimed to hear from
spirits—as the date the movement began.

By the fourth quarter of the 19 th century, the Spiritualist movement was joined on the
spiritual scene by the new Theosophist movement, a blend of Eastern and Western mystical
traditions that found fertile ground among urban elites. Following the lead of their founder,
Theosophists saw Spiritualism as unsophisticated and provincial. For their part, “Spiritualists
rejected Theosophy as unscientific occultism.” 10
The founder of Theosophy, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, is an enigmatic character, partly
because it’s difficult to confirm much of what she said and wrote about herself.
According to the official histories, she was the daughter of a Russian-German nobleman
who traveled widely across Europe and Asia in the 1850s and 1860s. By cobbling together
traditions cribbed from Eastern sources, Blavatsky laid the foundation for the modern UFO
phenomenon and ET disclosure movement.
Entire books have been devoted to the life and claims of Madame Blavatsky, and we
don’t have time or space here to dig deeply into the material. There’s a lot of ground to cover
before we get to the index, so we’re only going to scratch enough of the surface to show why
Blavatsky’s strain of spiritual thought is important to the modern UFO phenomenon.
Blavatsky acknowledged the existence of Spiritualist phenomena but denied that
mediums were contacting spirits of the dead. Madame Blavatsky taught that God is a
“Universal Divine Principle, the root of All, from which all proceeds, and within which all
shall be absorbed at the end of the great cycle of Being.” 11 If you catch the Eastern flavor of
her teachings, you’re right—Madame Blavatsky wove Hindu and Buddhist concepts into her
philosophy, and it’s claimed that she and Henry Steel Olcott, with whom she founded the
Theosophical Society in New York City in 1875, were the first Western converts to
Buddhism. The success of Theosophy in the U.S. and U.K. did much to spread Eastern
mysticism in the West, and the New Age Movement owes a debt to Helena Blavatsky.
Through her most famous books, Isis Unveiled, published in 1877, and her magnum
opus, The Secret Doctrine, published in 1888, Blavatsky attracted international attention to
her society and its goal of uniting the world in brotherhood by blending the philosophies of
East and West through the study of comparative religion, philosophy, and science. 12
In The Secret Doctrine, which Blavatsky claimed was channeled from a prehistoric work
called The Book of Dzyan (which critics accused her of cribbing without credit from other
sources, including the Sanskrit Rigveda), she wrote that “Lemuria was the homeland of
humanity, the place of the first creation. Further, there were to be seven Root Races ruling the
Earth in succession, of which humanity today was only the fifth. The fourth of these races
were the Atlanteans, who were destroyed by black magic. Lemuria would rise and fall to
spawn new races until the Seventh Root Race, perfect in every way, would take its rightful
place as master of the world.” 13
Who, you ask, were the Atlanteans, and what is Lemuria? In the 19 th century, this odd
marriage of Spiritualism and Modernism gave rise to competing claims that humanity was

either evolving or devolving. Spiritualists accepted Darwinian evolution because it supported
their belief in the continued development of the spirit after death. Blavatsky and her
followers, on the other hand, believed that humanity had left behind a golden age that
collapsed when Atlantis fell beneath the waves.
Lemuria, like Atlantis, was another lost continent that was believed to be submerged
somewhere in the Pacific or Indian Oceans. It got its name in 1864 when zoologist Philip
Sclater noticed that certain primate fossils existed in Madagascar and India, but not in Africa
or the Middle East. Sclater postulated a lost continent that connected Madagascar and India
to account for the lemur fossils—hence Lemuria. No kidding.
While the possible existence of Lemuria was dropped by the scientific community when
plate tectonics and continental drift caught on, the lost continent was kept alive by the
imagination and teachings of pseudo-scientists and spiritual leaders like Helena Blavatsky.
Mysterious symbols, tragic history, and memories of a glorious, golden past transmitted
by disembodied Masters via “astral clairvoyance” to Blavatsky (and later Theosophists like
C.W. Leadbeater) apparently stirred something in the hearts of those who read The Secret
Doctrine. With nothing but the force of her powerful will, Madame Helena Blavatsky
convinced thousands that the history they’d been taught was a lie, and that humanity’s future
was to return to the golden age that was lost when Atlantis slipped beneath the waves.
To put it simply, in Theosophy Helena Blavatsky gave the world a religious faith in
human evolution as an integral part of cosmic evolution. The goal was perfection and
conscious participation in the evolutionary process—self-directed evolution, a concept that
spurred the Eugenics movement of the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries (and, although they
don’t admit it, today’s Transhumanist movement). Blavatsky taught that this process was
overseen by the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom, a hierarchy of spiritual beings who’d been
guiding humanity’s development for millennia.
From a Christian perspective, it’s easy to recognize the deception embodied by the
doctrines of Theosophy. While Blavatsky’s critics accused her of inventing her faith out of
whole cloth, a discerning follower of Jesus Christ can recognize some common lies:
Humanity is the product of random evolutionary chance; we once enjoyed a golden age when
we lived like gods; and our destiny is to regain that exalted status through proper spiritual
discipline, ultimately to become one with God and the cosmos. This describes a common
belief system that Dr. Peter Jones calls “one-ism.” 14
Obviously, this is fundamentally at odds with the Christian faith, which recognizes above
all that we are most definitely not God. But the idea that we contain with us the spark of
divinity is appealing. It’s a good lie.
In fact, it’s literally the oldest lie in the Book: “Ye shall be as gods.”

1 Rev. Simeon Stefanidakis, “Forerunners to Modern Spiritualism: Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772),
http://www.fst.org/spirit2.htm, retrieved 7/25/17.
2 http://www.swedenborg.com/product/life-planets/, retrieved 7/25/17.
3 Siemasko, Corky. “Clinton Campaign Chief John Podesta’s Interest in UFOs is Out of This World.” NBC News,
Oct. 31, 2016. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/clinton-campaign-chief-john-podesta-s-interest-ufos-out-
world-n674711, retrieved 9/20/22.
4 Doctrine and Covenants 130:22. https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/130.22?lang=eng#21, retrieved
7/30/17.
5 The Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:29-34. https://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/moses/1.29-34?lang=eng#28,
retrieved 7/30/17.
6 Margaret Fox Kane, quoted in Davenport, Reuben Briggs. The Deathblow to Spiritualism. New York: G.W.
Dillingham, 1888, pp. 75-76.
7 Ibid., p. 77.
8 Zusne, Leonard; Jones, Warren. (1989). Anomalistic Psychology: A Study of Magical Thinking. Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates. p. 212.
9 Carroll, Bret E. The Routledge historical atlas of religion in America. New York: Routledge, 2000, p. 74.
10 Hess, David J. Science in the New Age: the paranormal, its defenders and debunkers, and American culture.
Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993, p. 20.
11 Blavatsky, Helena P. The Key to Theosophy. London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1889, p. 43.
12 Kuhn, Alvin Boyd. Theosophy: A Modern Revival of Ancient Wisdom. (PhD thesis). American religion series:
Studies in religion and culture. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 1992 (originally published 1930), pp. 63-64.
13 Colavito, Jason. The Cult of Alien Gods: H.P. Lovecraft And Extraterrestial Pop Culture (Kindle Locations 364-
366). Kindle Edition.
14 https://truthxchange.com/about-2/vision/, retrieved 8/8/17.

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So What’s It Going to Take?

While sitting at the desk in my office, thinking, praying, and reading God’s word, the reality of our
current times came before me. Again, I wondered, what is it going to take for Christians and church leaders
to see the revelation of God’s word unfolding before us and take real action to stand against evil as our
Lord Jesus would? Like the experience of Bonhoffer during the rise of Nazi Germany, all the dominos of
evil were clearly falling in place. Yet, the so-called church refused to see the evil tide and literally aided
the enemy in their efforts to destroy the lives and souls of so many of God’s children.
So, I look at the world. Specifically, my American home, which I cherish as a gift from God, and
I see the intentional destruction of everything Godly and good escalating at a great pace. Morality is being
destroyed right in front of us and governments are sponsoring it. Gross sexual perversion is being pushed
as normal and good to the most vulnerable and innocent, our children, their young souls being lost by the
minute. Parents, who oppose such perversion, are having their children removed from their custody.
Pastors who simply stand for God’s truth are arrested at gun point by FBI agents in the early morning, and
threatened with years in prison. The rule of law and our constitution are literally being ignored and distorted
by those who took an oath that they would uphold it. Fear tactics and blatant deception are being used by
our government, the media, big business, and others, to control and manipulate people. We see nation
(race/people groups) rising against nation, wars and rumors of wars, and the list goes on. Interestingly, I
often hear comments from non-Christians who see what is going on all around us as they wonder if our
world coming to an end. They wonder but seem incapable of understanding the true end game.
But wait, as children of God, none of the above should catch us by surprise! Our understanding of
it should be reasonably clear. God’s word told us in the end days it shall be like Sodom and Gomorrah,
and it shall be like the days on Noah. Perversion and idolatry will reach a great scale. Much of the world
won’t see the Lord’s return coming because of self-centered focus and consumption. In addition, God’s
word also told us that in the end times both the chaff and the wheat will grow strong in preparation for the
harvests of souls at the end of this age.
So, this makes me wonder, where is the wheat? Where is the body of Christ standing boldly as Salt
and Light to a world in need of God’s truth? Truth which will set them free of the present destruction. By
the way, when I say “world” I mean every aspect of human existence and civilization which includes
government and politics. If there is any part of this world that can’t be touched by God’s authority and
power, then so be it. But, if Jesus does have all authority, power, and dominion, then the body of Christ
and His Shepherd’s, have no excuse not to stand boldly against such evil and firmly influence the world
around us for God’s Kingdom. To be clear, in Revelations chapter one, Jesus Himself stated that He is the
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He IS, He WAS, and He IS TO COME, the ALMIGHTY
(the ruler of All). The Ever-Living One, and He possesses the keys of death and Hades.
Now for our part, The Lord commanded us to take dominion over all things. He formed
government, which is intended to only do good according to biblical standards, and He placed Himself as
the head of it with us as His ruling citizens (ecclesia). He directed us to remove the wicked from government
and to oppose all wicked actions (See Prov 25:5, 26), and finally He commanded us to disciple all to obey
His commandments.
With this said, I wonder what’s it going to take for those who call themselves “children of God” or
“His Shepherds” to stand boldly and openly against the present evil? I wonder, how big will God show up
when His people take a stand? Remember…Evil gets powerful and shows up at your door when its ignored.
Finally, many shall come on that day and say Lord, Lord. He will say depart from me you wicked
servant, I never knew you. I wonder…what’s our excuse?

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Satan’s Second Forbidden Fruit Part 2

Can the temple of the Holy Spirit be defiled or blasphemed by administering a drug? According to Revelation 18:23, the answer is yes. Furthermore, medications can be considered the sin of Pharmakeia, which is where we get our word pharmacy. This conspiracy to put the “light inside of us” out forever is carried out by wealthy international businessmen.

Hear from their own mouths about their sinister plans for humanity and how they plan to hack our brains. Not only are we talking about nano-robots in our bodies, but we will also show you how they can now target and eliminate our “God gene” by rewriting our DNA. Indeed, the most shocking part is that a vaccine can do both. Creating human hybrids brings back all the connotations of the Days of Noah.

The Days of Noah was a time of corrupt flesh, corrupt minds, and corrupted bloodlines. Could this be why Noah preached for 120 years without saving anyone? Could this also be why the Mark of the Beast makes it impossible for someone to be saved? Join me for this thrilling conclusion and how we can get the word out to a new generation that has never heard about how they must say no to the Mark of the Beast.

Click to watch Video!

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God’s Ghost Busters

Don’t let the name or pictures frighten or turn you away. This book is full of truth and explanations that most clergy never talk about. Today when more people in America believe in UFO’s and Aliens than they do in our Creator God, it is no wonder our country has fallen so far away from God!

This book is written by many experts and ministers who have spent their lives examining the occult, UFO phenomena’s, alien abductions, ghosts, vampires, witches just to name a few of the satanic and demonic attacks and deceptions on people throughout America and the world! Don’t just write this off as imaginary or hype. Don’t just say people are making this up or it’s all in their minds. Wicca (witchcraft) is the fastest growing religion in America today! Believe me it is real and it is affecting you and your church/family every day!

The supernatural is real, very real and as Christians you claim to be a part of it. The difference is, you probably only claim God’s part as real. The principalities and wickedness in high places have only become a verse or two in the Bible without substance for most Christians. Why is that? Because if it is spirit it can’t harm me! How far from the truth this lie is! People are the casualties of this great war we are in and if you turn a blind eye to it, you have already lost!

Pastors and leaders, wake up! Families are being torn apart by the evil spirits that exist and you need to take a stand or at least get out of the way for someone who will!

God’s Ghost Busters may sound like some kind of Hollywood movie but I can assure you that if you dare to read it you will blown away.

If you accept the challenge to get this powerful book, I suggest that you start with Chapter 15 and then go back to the beginning. If that doesn’t get your attention return the book and move on!

It is time that our churches(and leaders) stop ignoring the Tactics and Schemes of our enemy satan! Pastors and leaders you are in warfare and you need to fully equip your sheep with the knowledge and instructions on how to recognize and destroy the wickedness that has spread like a plague across America! It is much more deadly than the corona virus!

Make your discipleship more than a glorified Bible study. Make it a boot camp for spiritual warfare ready to face the adversary without fear or ignorance.

Pastors, families are under fire! It is your responsibility to protect, defend, educate, and prepare them for every kind of weapon formed against them!

If not today, when?

We write this today out of our love for the Body of Christ and the specifically (hand picked by God) Shepherds for this mighty work!

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Ne’ilah – Closing of the Gates (נְעִילָה)

The closing service on Yom Kippur is called Ne’ilah. The Ne’ilah prayer is …

O keep open for us Your gate of mercy, at the time of the closing of the gate. Now that the day is waning. The day is passing; the sun is setting; O let us enter Your gate at last. O God, we beseech You, forgive, pardon, take pity; grant us atonement; subdue our sin and iniquity.

http://www.mjcnj.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/MJC_Contemporary_Machzor_20111.pdf

Neilah (means closing) and is the final service of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). This is the most serious appointment God gave His people Israel (Leviticus 23). This is a day devoted to seeking atonement or forgiveness of sins.

In ancient Israel when the day would end at sunset, the gates of Jerusalem would close. This last service of Yom Kippur is taking place during the last minutes of the day. The closing of the Jerusalem gates painted an important picture for the people of Israel. As the people thought about the closing of the gates of the city and that they day was about to end, they would realize that their opportunity to convince God to forgive them of their sins was also about to end.

What purpose do gates serve?

A gate is a point of entry. Gates prevent or allow the entry or exit of individuals.A metal fence Description automatically generated

(https://www.morfix.co.il/נעילה) Ne’ilah: closing, locking

The gates are not only closing, but they will be locked. This means people cannot enter locked gates unless they have the key, or someone else unlocks the gate for them.A picture containing text Description automatically generated

What do we learn about gates in the Bible?

(Deuteronomy 16:18 JPS) Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God gives thee, tribe by tribe; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.

(Deuteronomy 21:18-19 JPS) If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, that will not hearken to the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and though they chasten him, will not hearken unto them; then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;

(cf. Deuteronomy 25:7, Proverbs 31:23) Elders sit at the gates.

Elders, judges and officers’ rule and judge from the gates of the city. In some way, when the time comes for people to meet God, they will go to the Gates of Heaven to be informed of God’s judgement and learn whether or not they are welcome to enter the gates.

In Jeremiah 17:19-27 we read that Prophets went to the city gates and declared judgement for disobeying God’s Word. Judgment happens at gates. At gates people find out whether their sins are forgiven or not. And if they’re not forgiven, people receive their judgement for their sins or disobedience.

Now let’s see what Yeshua says about the gates of heaven.

(Matthew 7:13-14 TLB) “Heaven can be entered only through the narrow gate! The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide enough for all the multitudes who choose its easy way. But the Gateway to Life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.”

Yeshua told us that there are two gates; one leads to life and one leads to destruction. The gate that leads to death is wide so it is easy to follow and many people enter it. On the other hand, the gate to life is narrow and hard to follow so only a few people enter the gate of life.

Narrow

(Thesaurus): cramped, limiting and restrictiveA picture containing text, vector graphics Description automatically generated

The road and gate to heaven is narrow. They are cramped, limiting and restrictive. People want to be free to do anything they want, and to go anywhere they want, but this is not possible if we want to live with God forever. In Leviticus 23 we read that on Yom Kippur we must deny ourselves or live a life with limits and restrictions if we want to please God.

(Galatians 5:13 NLT) For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

(Galatians 5:13 CEV) My friends, you were chosen to be free. So don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do anything you want. Use it as an opportunity to serve each other with love.

Our freedom does not allow us to do things which are identified as sin in God’s Instructions (the Bible). We are free to live for God and serve Him according to His Instructions given in the Bible. We may be free, but we have to deny ourselves of things if we want to walk through the narrow and restrictive gates of heaven.

(Exodus 7:16) “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness.”

God gave Moses a message for Pharoah. People often quote the first half of this message which was to inform Pharoah that God wanted His people to be free. But that is not all God said to Pharoah. He also told Pharoah the reason for the freedom. The people of Israel were not being freed from their slavery so they could be their own master and decide what they wanted to do. They were being set free to serve God. I think God has a different definition of freedom than most people.

(Proverbs 14:12 TLB) Before every man there lies a wide and pleasant road that seems right but ends in death.

(Proverbs 14:12 MSG) There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough; look again – it leads straight to hell. Sure, those people appear to be having a good time, but all that laughter will end in heartbreak.

The wide-open road is so appealing to so many people. Yet the Bible informs us that looks are deceiving. Our eyes are fooled as the wide-open road really leads to death. The road (and all that is happening on the road) seems so harmless. People are smiling and enjoying themselves. Yet, the smiles will soon disappear. People have been deceived and fooled by Satan, and the road will lead them to Satan (who will be waiting for them in hell).

Yeshua is the narrow gate

(John 10:7-10 NLT) “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before Me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through Me will be saved. … My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

Yeshua is the gate. He invites and allows people to enter a land filled with good pastures. Yeshua must allow us to enter His presence or heaven.

(John 10:1 NLT) “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber!

When we want to enter our home, we use our key to unlock the door. This is the proper way to enter our home, or any building. When you see someone put a key in a door you probably don’t think too much about it. But, if you see someone climbing over a fence or into a window of a home, what would you think? The first thought that should come to your mind is, “Is this person trying to break into the building or home?”

Yeshua is the gate; the legal and proper way to enter property or a home. If people try to enter the Kingdom of God any other way besides going through Yeshua: the gate, they are trying to enter a place they have no right to enter. If you want to experience a rich and satisfying life here on earth, and forever with God, Yeshua is the only gate.

(Revelation 21:25-27 NASB) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

There will never be any sin in the New Jerusalem so there won’t be anything that could keep people separated from God or forbid them from entering His presence. Once judgement has taken place and we’ve been admitted or thrown into our eternal home, no one will be left wandering about trying to illegally enter heaven so the gates of heaven will never be closed (or locked).

I read in an article that there is a paradox presented in the Neilah service when it mentions that the gates will be closing. Jewish tradition has us rushing to repent before the gates close, yet there’s also the belief that God always welcomes the sinner and is always eager for us to turn in repentance. 

What’s the rush to enter the gates?

There is never a time when we are not welcome to return. And if God is always eager to receive the sinner in repentance, then what’s the rush? If God does not close His gates, and prevent people from entering His presence, why is there a service telling people the gates are about to close so they better pray with all they’ve got?

If we live only with the assumption that repentance always is available, then we would never be motivated to actually change at a particular instance. Just as knowledge of our certain mortality infuses our life with a need to seize the day, so does the push of Yom Kippur as a time particularly favorable to teshuvah (repentance) inspire us to more focused contemplation than a more open-ended process would. [www.jewishjournal.com/culture/religion/yom_kippur/225057/neilah/]

If all we think about is that the Gates to Heaven are always open, people have no reason or need to enter now. People can choose to continue living a life without God, assuming they’ve got lots of time before they need to change and put God first. For this reason, the Ne’ilah service is necessary.

Once the service ends, and people exit the doors they’ll be confronted with many necessary needs of life. God may still be on their minds, but He will no longer dominate their thoughts like He did during the service. The things we think about and do outside the gates of Temple are not sinful, but once the service ends, God will not have the same place in our minds as He had during the service.

(James 4:14 NLT) How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog – it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.

You know for sure that the morning fog will disappear, but we do not know when. Time is constantly moving forward, and we have no clue when our life will end. We do not know exactly when we will die, but we do know that we are closer to the time of our death then we are to the time of our birth.

(Everyman’s Talmud, p. 110) However true it be that repentance is possible up to the moment of death, it is considered unwise to postpone it. ‘R. Eliezer said, “Repent one day before your death.” His disciples asked him, “Does then, anybody know on which day he will die?” He replied to them, “How much more reason is there for him to repent today, lest he be dead tomorrow; and as a consequence all his days will be spent in repentance”’ (Shab. 153a).Diagram Description automatically generated

What great insight! Right up to the second, we breathe our last breath, we have an opportunity to repent. But the reality is that we do not know the exact time we will die. Therefore, we cannot postpone repenting of our sins or turning back to God. We need to do it now!

(Neilah Poem) Faster-faster I hear the Chorus of the Hosts on High. Not words but God’s soft unspoken plea is heard- “Keep open your gate! Keep open your gate!” The stars wink down above me. … The Shofar calls an end – a Neilah. Yet as I leave His sanctuary His silent Shofar calls. “Keep open your gates for Mine are never closed.”God’s gates will be open tomorrow, a year from now, etc. But right now, God has your attention. Right now, your mind is focused on God and the gates of heaven. Once you stop reading this article, things will change. God wants to know if your gates are open, and if you will invite Him to enter and be Lord of your life. If you invite God to enter your gates, He will invite you to enter His gates. Would you like to enter His gates now?

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Patented Genetic Markers In Our Foreheads?

In this third sermon about “How to Talk about Covid in the Pulpit,” we begin to expose the true extent to which the Covid narrative is prophetic. We will also explain, “Why can’t someone be saved after they take the Mark of the Beast?” While this vaccine is not the Mark of the Beast, it is shocking how close we are to Revelation 13:15-17.
 
1.         A cause came into the world.
2.         This cause appears to justify mandatory access to our bodies.
3.         If we don’t give them access, we are not allowed to “buy and sell.”
4.         Genetic markers were placed in both hands, but the “right hand” (G1188) is symbolic of giving our trust and allegiance to the beast. (Isaiah 41:13, Matthew 5:29 & 20:23) 
5.         Patentable genetic markers were placed in our foreheads (G3359) or “aft” the eyes because these were the first vaccines to cross the blood-brain barrier and enter our brain, and possibly our minds.
6.         Some vaccines carried something with Satan’s name (Luciferase in SM102), and are linked to Microsoft patent #060606.
Click for Live Sermon: https://rumble.com/v1gba3t-patented-genetic-markers-in-our-forehead.html
 
While parts of the 666 patent are missing, we will cover how all the technology is available next week. We will also cover how the mass distribution of patentable genetic markers has re-triggered “The Days of Noah” and “The Divided Kingdom.” 
 
The question is, are we not going to say anything? I believe God has called us to warn a new generation that they must say no to worshiping the coming Beast government and taking its mark. Please help me by sharing this sermon series, our Supernatural Junkies podcast, or my book “The Covid Beast.” May God give us more time to warn His children of what is to come.

 

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The gospel of ET

The media has played a key role in promoting a new religion for the 21st century. Without the Internet, cable television, and Hollywood, it’s doubtful that the gospel of ET would have spread as far and as fast as it has.

They probably wouldn’t characterize themselves this way, but the presenters on cable TV alien hunter shows are essentially, as Dr. Michael Heiser calls them, televangelists for the ET religion. Ancient Aliens is, incredibly, now in its 18th season on The History Channel.

The History Channel! Do you remember when the History Channel still broadcast programs about history? Sadly, actual history is as popular on cable as it was in high school. So, programmers turned to so-called reality shows, rehashing old cases about UFOs and alien contact, and they found gold in them thar thrills.

We humans love a mystery, and other cable networks have followed History’s lead over the last decade with varying degrees of success. Programs about the paranormal and unexplained are featured on National Geographic, SyFy, Animal Planet, and the Travel Channel. Mystery sells. And nothing is more mysterious than the unexplained lights in the sky and persistent stories of those who claim to have been aboard the ships.

The most popular and influential program on cable catering to the hunger for the ET gospel is undoubtedly Ancient Aliens. It was launched by The History Channel in 2010 as a successor to UFO Hunters, which aired in 2008 and 2009. A number of other programs featuring the UFO phenomenon have come and gone since the turn of the century—UFO Chasers, UFOs Declassified, UFO Files, Hangar 1, and Unsealed: Alien Files to name a few—but Ancient Aliens is plugging along in 2017, a top ten cable show with about 1.2 million adult viewers in its Friday night time slot. By the time you read this, 130 episodes of Ancient Aliens will have delivered the subtle message that the Bible’s account of where humanity came from was incomplete.

In retrospect, the shift from UFOs to “ancient aliens” was a brilliant programming decision. There are only so many ways to make jittery mobile phone videos of blurry lights in the night sky look interesting. Famous cases like Roswell, Kecksburg, and the Phoenix Lights have been analyzed as often as the Kennedy assassination. Without new information on old events, which isn’t likely, or spectacular new cases to investigate, the UFO phenomenon runs out of material quickly—at least as far as what can be turned into entertaining television.

By tying the UFO phenomenon to unsolved mysteries of the past, the producers of Ancient Aliens opened a gold mine of material. Everything from the pyramids to cults and mystery religions were suddenly fair game. Borrowing heavily from the work of Erich von Däniken and Zecharia Sitchin, Ancient Aliens has linked ETIs to ancient Sumer, the cyclopean architecture of the Americas, and Freemasonry.

And, of course, the Bible. This, too, is no accident. Researcher and author Jason Colavito observed that “Ancient Aliens stopped being about space aliens years ago and is now a sort of propaganda arm for New Age religion, which explains why it is so much more interested in the mystery of consciousness than actual evidence for the existence of space aliens. […] Over the years Ancient Aliens has become Theosophy: The Series.”

Exactly right.

The beauty of this approach is that the producers of Ancient Aliens don’t have to prove a thing. A medieval painting, an inscription from the ancient Near East, or an odd-looking prehistoric petroglyph is all they need to build another episode. Host Giorgio Tsoukalos begins so many statements with, “Could it be…,” or, “Is it possible…,” that the show has become a parody of itself.

A classic example is the fascination ancient astronaut believers have with Ezekiel’s wheel:

As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. […]

Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. (Ezekiel 1:4, 15-21, ESV)

The analysis by Tsoukalos? “It reads much more like an encounter with some type of extraterrestrial craft that was misinterpreted as some type of a divine event.”

Well, yeah—unless you’re a Mesopotamian living 2,600 years ago. That type of imagery was common back then. Believe it or not, the subjects of Nebuchadnezzar would have known exactly what they were seeing: a royal throne and its divine guardians.

The UFO interpretation is modern, but it isn’t new. The Spaceships of Ezekiel, a 1974 book by Josef P. Blumrich, capitalized on the growing popularity of von Däniken’s Chariots of the Gods, with the added marketing appeal that Blumrich wrote the book while he was “chief of NASA’s systems layout branch of the program development office at the Marshall Space Flight Center.”

Except that he wasn’t:

One of the reasons so many people have (and still do) think Blumrich’s book is worth referencing is that he claimed (and so his followers are fond of repeating) that he was a NASA engineer. He wasn’t. As Jason Colavito demonstrated a long time ago, documentation exists from the U.S. State Department that shows the State Department could find no evidence that Blumrich was affiliated with NASA. Frankly, it wouldn’t matter if Blumrich was an engineer. His ideas are based on desperate and uninformed misreadings of the biblical text anyway. We know what Ezekiel saw because his descriptions mirror ancient Babylonian iconography that we can look at today because of archaeologists. The imagery is no mystery, nor is its meaning.

So, once again, the uncritical thinkers in the ancient astronaut orbit (and I do mean orbit) were duped by a “researcher” that lied to them. You have to wonder how many times this has to happen before some of these folks wake up. The ancient astronaut theory is primarily supported by industrious but duplicitous researchers offering fraudulent research to an emotionally and psychologically primed audience. It’s actually pretty sad. (Emphasis added.)

So, Blumrich was a fake and Tsoukalos got things backwards. People think Ezekiel saw a UFO because our 21st century worldview misinterprets divine imagery from the 6th century B.C.

Sadly, people who say they take the Bible seriously aren’t any better prepared to understand what the prophet saw than Giorgio Tsoukalos. Those who’ve studied Ezekiel usually haven’t read up on Mesopotamian religious imagery. Evangelists of the ET religion disregard what the ancient Mesopotamians believed because—well, because aliens.

That’s what fuels the continued popularity of the work of the late Zecharia Sitchin. In a nutshell, Sitchin, who passed away in 2010, claimed that Mesopotamian iconography showed the existence of a forgotten planet called Nibiru beyond Neptune. This planet, Sitchin claimed, follows a highly elliptical orbit into the inner solar system about every 3,600 years with catastrophic consequences. Sitchin also equated the Anunnaki, the gods of Sumer, with the biblical Nephilim, and claimed that they arrived on Earth some 450,000 years ago to mine gold in Africa. 

Sitchin’s theories are behind much of the Planet X angst that clogs up the Internet. Biblical scholar Dr. Michael S. Heiser, who can actually read Sumerian, has thoroughly debunked Sitchin’s theories, going so far as to post his personal tax returns to show that he wasn’t trying to profit by publicly challenging Sitchin. That hasn’t stopped Sitchinites from continuing to spread the idea that the gods of the ancient world were actually astronauts from outside the solar system.

All manner of ancient mysteries are explained away with, “Well, we don’t know—so it must be aliens.” For example, one of the more convincing stories we’re told about our ancestors is that they couldn’t possibly have moved the stones used to build the pyramids, the temple at Baalbek, or Machu Picchu because our modern cranes can’t lift that kind of weight today. What we’re not told is that between 1768 and 1770, the Russians transported the heaviest stone ever moved by humans, the 1,500-ton Thunder Stone, nearly four miles overland to the center of St. Petersburg without animal or machine power.

Think about that. While the American colonies slowly marched toward a war for independence, four hundred Russians with rope, timber, and a bunch of 6” diameter bronze spheres moved a block of granite that weighed as much as 65 fully-loaded tractor-trailers across six kilometers of dry land in nine months.

The bottom line is this: Just because Giorgio Tsoukalos doesn’t know how people moved big blocks of stone 4,000 years ago, it doesn’t follow that it must have been aliens.

Yet, as factually void as the show is, people still watch Ancient Aliens. And the lack of response from the church to the ancient alien meme isn’t helping. Ignoring the UFO phenomenon hasn’t made it go away. To repeat: A third of Americans believe we’re being visited by ET. Only 10% believe in God as He’s described in the Bible.

Why do we keep coming back to those numbers? Because we’re in the middle of an information war, and pop culture is on the side of the aliens.

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Why The Champions Table!?

Simple reason, it is the safe place to go and let loose. It is a safe place to go when you need counsel from a peer! It is where you can build safe, trusted and lasting relationships that are genuine and intimate! It is where, in time, you can seriously pray with brothers who you can share your deepest and toughest areas of need and struggles. It becomes your real prayer fortress.

Let’s face it Pastor, statistically over 70% of us do not have a single “trusted” friend. You know, that person that if you are struggling with a pornography addiction, an affair is staring you in the face or you have already fallen, age is catching up with you and your body is changing, your wife is miserable at your church because of all the complainers or she sees the church as your mistress, people call you 24/7 and you are ready to quit! This is just the short list. There are many other statistics that tell the truth about how we are doing!

Everyone of us struggle with being real! We carry the load all the time no matter how heavy and we smile while all along we are hurting inside and often denying the pain.

My Champions Table has been my friend and release for more than a decade. For one to two hours every week I get to meet with 3 brothers who are just like me, well sort of. Actually we are not much alike at all. We are all Pastors that love Jesus, but that’s about where it ends. We are different denominations, race, sizes of ministries and even our politics aren’t the same. Our backgrounds are entirely different, yet we love and like one another. We have fun together and cry together and sometimes we argue with each other. We are completely honest with one another which means we often do not agree. How refreshing it is to sit together every week and talk about everything under the sun and no one gets upset or mad.

How we all have grown in our understanding of the “Body of Christ”, many members working under the headship of Jesus!

The beautiful thing about The Champions Table is that it is not about being a Pastor. It is about being a man who happens to be a Pastor. What a novel thought, Pastors sitting and talking about family, sports, politics, personal challenges, marriages, children, health, books, exercise, self improvement, goals, vacations, finances, investments, budgets, habits, addictions, temptations, sex, oh and sometimes the troublemakers we have to deal with.

Pastors, our families are under fire! The world wants to steal your children, break up your marriage and close your church! We must do everything we can to be ready at all times. You need men who truly are willing to fight with you and for you like Joshua did for Moses. I need this and so do you! The Table helps me stay alert and aware and also have the confidence to know I can trust these brothers no matter what! That is an awesome feeling!

Again, this is just a sampling of what makes a great Table of Champions. That’s why we call it our Champions Table. The Table is developing us into Champions for God by making us Champions for our wife, our children and the Church we serve. It stretches us to become the man God created us to be; honorable, trustworthy, caring, attentive, considerate, accountable, bold, uncompromising, strong, and giving!

There are many women in ministry throughout the world who may take the principles of the Champions Table and embrace them. We welcome and applaud them for their commitment to serving God. This ministry is focused on men, why, well first of all it is what the Holy Spirit said to do and I guess it is needed much more by men. Just look how the women seem to set the standard of faithfulness in churches today! Secondly, by looking at how many fatherless homes we have and the drop in men leaders in churches in America, it is time we had a group of Pastors step up to be courageous Champions! Men will follow Leaders who set the standard of success and victorious living! When you join the “Table of Champions” and embrace the principles you then become part of the Elite Special Forces for the Body of Christ, the real “Church”!

That’s “Why the Champions Table“! What about you? Does your wife, children, and church want a Champion! Step up today!

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God Loves His Church

When I was asked the question,” what is the proof that God loves the church” I thought to myself, hey, cool, that should be easy to answer. Then I thought about how significantly great God’s love is for us in general. It’s a considerable task to simply describe God’s love.  God’s love is far greater than what we could even fantom. Nevertheless, we can find in His word how monumental His love for us is. 

God’s love for us is steadfast and it never ceases. It will not stop, it can’t stop. God has invested way too much (i.e., Christ Jesus) in us for that to even happen. “Lam 3:22 ESV The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.”  There is nothing that we could do that will make Him love us any more than what He does right now. And there isn’t anything that we can do that could cause Him to love us any less. Now that last part about “his mercies never come to an end” is another indicator of His love for us. No matter how bad we mess up and how much He has to correct us; He still has mercies on us. The things that we do before a Holy God well deserves greater punishment.  “When we are afflicted by the rod of his wrath, but it is of the lord’s mercies that we are not consumed”. 

Hence the word “consumed”.  God’s Church is like Moses’ bush, burning but not consumed. Whatever missed steps the Church has made, no matter the hardships the church has ever encountered and yet to meet with, it will have a being in the world to the end of time. It is persecuted of men, but not forsaken of God, and though it is cast down, it is not destroyed (2Co_4:9), corrected, but never consumed, refined in the fire like silver, but not consumed as dross. All because He loves us so much. 

Here’s another big deal that proves God loves the church. It’s because the church is the Bride of Christ. I probably should have said that first. Anyway, Ephesians 5:25-33 breaks down how a wife is to be loved in the same way Christ loves the Church. 

Ephesians 5:25 is the sacrificial investment I mentioned earlier. This was an uncaused love. It wasn’t because we were obedient, good looking, intelligent, or rich. His love was expressed without condition. Man did nothing to make God love us this much. 

God’s love is unreasonable but not irrational, given the truth that God is love. Throughout the Old Testament, if God would have responded to us reasonably and reacted the way we do, He would have left us or consumed us. 

Would it be reasonable for someone to ask you to ransom your innocent and only child, to an evil, vile, and sadistic entity, for a bunch of liars, adulterers, murderers, thieves, and idolaters, whom have been taken hostage? Who would surrender the innocent? Romans 5:6-8 breaks this down to a level of understanding, and opens the question of” what would it take for you to die for another human being?” Very few would give their life not even for a good man. But God demonstrated His own love toward us while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (v8)  

There are three centers of God love, 

  1. God so Loved the world— John 3:16 is the assurance of God’s love for the world. John had absorbed so much of the spirit of Christ Spirit because of the deep thought of the mystery of Christ, his eyes were opened by the Spirit to see God’s love for everyone in the entire world. This is the universality of God’s love. 
  1. Christ Loves the church— Luke 15:11-32, Eph 5:25 

From the story of the prodigal, we can see why the Church gets this extra special kind of love. The father never stopped loving his son. Even while the son was far away on his rebellious rant running with harlots, the father still had a deep longing for his return, everyday that son was gone. But only when that prodigal came home could the father’s pent-up love be poured out on the son. The Church is the part of the world that has come home from the filth. Coming home to the covering of the blood of Christ is where love can finally show itself, in the ring and in the shoes and in the robe.

  1. God’s Love for the Individual – Gal 2:20

Galatians 2:20 ESV  I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

In the second center of love, “Christ loved the Church” Ephesians 5:25 is also referenced. In verse 25 the example of how a husband should love His wife is compared to how Christ love the Church. Christ died for the church. The price that was paid was extremely too high and the mission is too important for God to ever give up on the Church. 

Don J. Rhone 

“Bridging Purpose and Solutions to Life”

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Whose Sermon is it anyway?

Whose sermon is it? Have you ever watched or listened to a pastor preach and wonder where it came from? I must say that Linda and I watch and listen to sermons or messages on average about 10-15 each week from a variety of speakers. These are not all high profile people and for sure there are many different doctrinal beliefs! It is sometimes refreshing, sometimes puzzling and sometimes heartbreaking to hear.

We find it fascinating how the Body of Christ is truly made up of many members with different functions, gifts, abilities and levels of faith. Yes, levels of faith, especially in pastors. We have learned not to criticize those who may believe some things differently than us, however the beauty is that they all trust in Jesus as the Savior and only way to heaven. (John 14:6)

Those with who we differ on opinion in scripture and/or realize have been gravely misled or deceived become a high priority for prayer. Believe it or not, sometime we learned that we were wrong in our own understanding and belief.

It has taken me a few years to realize that my criticism was only hurting myself and helping the enemy! Holy Spirit finally got through to me that I needed to spend my time praying for them not bashing them! The enemy loves the Body of Christ beating up itself.

It has become very clear to me through the years of being in two Champion Tables personally, how pastors are led and think very differently and still can love Jesus and each other. It has been a wonderful thing to see pastors experience transformation at the Table because of open discussions done in love with a heart to grow and understand!

When it comes to sermons and messages most pastors that we talk with, have yet to learn how to simply allow God to speak through them. Most toil hour after hour to get it just right with what they believe or want the listeners to hear. It is very easy to put words into God’s mouth so to speak. One of the most challenging part of being a pastor/shepherd is hearing God distinctly and obeying without question. Why is that, because it very often goes against society, tradition, world view, church leadership and much more. This is why we need pastors who are bold and obedient without fear except to God!

Messages that compromised the Word of God are clearly not from God! Messages that are “always” feel good, are probably not from God. Our messages should always give hope but should not categorically say to all the listeners life is ok, just smile, God’s got your back!

We have a real enemy that is attacking homes, families, marriages and communities at a very high intensity. Sexual pervasion is at an all time high. Education of our children has turned into indoctrination, Hollywood is producing much more entertainment that denies the existence of God and promotes every sin imaginable, and our governmental leaders have knowingly attacked every home in our country and this is not about politics! It is about just some of what every one of your/our sheep face daily! Sadly we must report that pastor and church passivity is also at an all time high!

Pastors, we need to face this enemy with the sword of the spirit without compromise. Your sheep are being fed poison every day by internet, TV, schools, intentional social media tactics, work places and more. If pastors are not addressing these issues that are attacking the Bible and God’s Church, then we suggest that perhaps their messages are not from God at all but simply a feel good message deigned not to ruffle feathers. The Word of God is the foundation of the “Church” with Jesus as the head and “sheep” can only grow and mature with a steady diet of the Word of God!

Whose message is it, anyway? Friends you can easily know by asking yourself, is this message dealing with the enemy attacks on me and my family, is this message coming from God’s Word with power and have I been given the spiritual food that I need to overcome the attacks and enemy strongholds I will be facing this week, do I feel the power of God flowing to me and through me that will heal me and strengthen my faith to overcome every obstacle before me? These are just a few questions to ask in your spirit/heart. You will know whether the message was from God or not.

Pastors, if you will simply humble yourself completely before God every time you are to give “His” word and prepare your heart and mind to hear “His” word, then He will prepare you to share “His” word!

We are praying for you!

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