Pastor Archives - Page 2 of 8

Paul is the Founder and CEO of All Pro Pastors International, a ministry that encourages and challenges Pastors to join together as Kingdom Brothers to develop trust, accountability and unity. It is a ministry that strengthens Pastors marriages, families, and ministries by establishing “Champions Tables”. The “Champions Table” is a safe place where Pastors can meet together and develop genuine relationships. The Champions Table is a pastors “Prayer Fortress!”

Pastor Paul Pickern is married to his wife Linda. They have 5 children (Tony, Stephanie, Dale, Seth, Schyler) and 12 grand children. Their home is in Plant City, Florida between Tampa and Orlando. Paul was born in Belleville, Illinois and Linda was born in Charleston, West Virginia.

Prophesy, History, Discoveries

December 21, 2022/0 Comments/by Paul Pickern

The Truth About Christmas and Saturnalia

We need to debunk a bit of fake news before we get any deeper into the holiday season. The selection of December 25 as the date to celebrate the birth of Christ had nothing to do with Saturnalia or the winter solstice. Besides, Saturnalia wasn’t always celebrated in December, and it wasn’t even originally named for Saturn. It was adapted from an older version known to the Greeks, celebrated for their version of Saturn, Kronos.

The Kronia is first recorded in Ionia, the central part of western Anatolia (modern Turkey) in the eighth century BC, a little before the time of the prophet Isaiah. From there, the celebration spread to Athens and the island of Rhodes, ultimately making its way westward to Rome, shifting over time from midsummer to the winter solstice. Both festivals were a time of merriment and abandoning social norms, with gambling, gift-giving, suspension of normal business, and the reversal of roles by slaves and their masters.

The festival of Saturnalia, held between December 17 and 23, was undoubtedly the most popular of the year for Romans. It was marked by a reversal of societal norms, which apparently hearkened back to better days:

The first inhabitants of Italy were the Aborigines, whose king, Saturnus, is said to have been a man of such extraordinary justice, that no one was a slave in his reign, or had any private property, but all things were common to all, and undivided, as one estate for the use of every one; in memory of which way of life, it has been ordered that at the Saturnalia slaves should everywhere sit down with their masters at the entertainments, the rank of all being made equal. Italy was accordingly called, from the name of that king, Saturnia; and the hill on which he dwelt Saturnius, on which now stands the Capitol, as if Saturnus had been dislodged from his seat by Jupiter.

It’s widely believed by skeptics, and some well-meaning but misinformed Christians, that the date for celebrating Christmas was chosen by the early church to “Christianize” Saturnalia. The story goes that the festival was so popular that even Christians in the Roman Empire wouldn’t give it up, so church leaders declared December 25 the birth day of Jesus, established a feast, and stole Saturnalia from the pagans.

That happens not to be the case.

The earliest record of the observance of Christmas is from Clement of Alexandria around AD 200. But the first suggestion that Christmas might be linked to pagan worship didn’t come until the twelfth century, about nine hundred years later. In other words, as far as historians can tell, no Christians between the third through twelfth centuries thought they were accidentally worshiping a pagan god at Christmas. While some noted the proximity of December 25 to the winter solstice, which falls on December 21 or 22, early Christian writers did not believe the church chose the date. Rather, they saw it as a sign that God was the true sun, superior to the false gods of the pagans.

The Donatist sect in North Africa celebrated Jesus’ birth on December 25 in the early fourth century, before Constantine became emperor of Rome (so we can’t blame him for setting the date). And while it’s true that the emperor Aurelian made veneration of Sol Invictus the law throughout the Roman Empire in AD 274, a collection of ancient writings called Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae puts the feast day during the reign of Licinius (AD 308–324) on November 18. There is little evidence that a feast for Sol Invictus was held on December 25 before the middle of the fourth century AD, and Christians were celebrating the birth of Christ on that date about half a century earlier.

So, given that nobody in the first century recorded the actual date of Jesus’ birth, how did the early church arrive at December 25? It’s a little complex, but it illustrates the motives of the Church Fathers, which did not include sneaking pagan worship into the faith.

Second-century Latin Christians in Rome and North Africa made an effort to calculate the exact date of Jesus’ death. For reasons that escape us, they settled on March 25, AD 29. (The reasons escape us because March 25 was not a Friday that year, nor was it Passover Eve, nor did Passover Eve fall on a Friday in AD 29, or even in the month of March.) The March 25 date was also noted by early church theologians Tertullian and Augustine.

There was a widespread belief among Jews of the day in the “integral age” of great prophets, which means it was thought that the prophets of Israel died on the same day they were conceived. It’s not biblical, but that’s not the point. What matters is the early church believed it, and that’s how it was decided that Jesus was born in late December: Adding nine months to March 25 brings you to—you guessed it—December 25.

It’s that simple. Underline this: Saturn and Saturnalia had nothing to do with Christmas.

The effort to claim the credit, however, is the work of the dark god and his minions. The recent pushback against celebrating Christmas has been so intense that some Christians are careful to avoid mentioning the holiday, except with trusted friends, lest they be accused of accidentally worshiping Saturn, Baal, Sol Invictus, or Nimrod—by other Christians. The Christmas season used to be the one time of year when Christ was openly proclaimed in our society. Sadly, zealous but misinformed believers have unwittingly helped the Fallen reclaim the holiday.

It’s almost certain that Jesus was not born on December 25. It’s also true that the Christmas holiday has attracted a lot of baggage—pagan traditions, hyper-commercialization, and awful renditions of Christmas carols by pop divas. (Mariah Carey recently tried to trademark the title “Queen of Christmas.” Seriously. Thankfully, the U.S. Patent Office said no.)

None of that matters. The important point is this: The early church did not establish December 25 as a feast day to celebrate the birth of Jesus to copy or co-opt a pagan holiday.

That said, Saturn successfully rebranded the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath, as Sāturni diēs, Saturn’s Day, in the second century AD when Rome replaced its eight-day cycle with a seven-day week. And there is biblical evidence that some Jews adopted the worship of Saturn during the Babylonian captivity:

“You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts. (Amos 5:26–27)

Sikkuth appears to be a reference to a minor Babylonian god named Sakkud, or Sakkut. However, the pronunciation was close enough to the Hebrew word sukkat (“hut”) that the Jewish scholars who translated the Septuagint rendered the first line, “And you took along the tent of Molech.” The consonants of Molech and melek (“king”) are identical, but it’s interesting that the translators were comfortable bringing the “king-god” into the scripture, and that’s exactly how Stephen quoted Amos during his speech to the Sanhedrin.

It’s especially interesting since “Kiyyun” refers to the Babylonian name for Saturn, Kajjamānu, “the Steady One.” Kajjamānu was an unimportant god in the Mesopotamian pantheon, but it’s indicative of the hubris of the king-god: Under his influence, most of the Western world now calls God’s divinely ordained day of rest “Saturn’s Day.”

And because that isn’t enough, even Christians have been convinced that Saturn, not Jesus, is the reason we celebrate Christmas.

From the book The Second Coming of Saturn by Derek P. Gilbert

Derek Gilbert

Derek Gilbert Bio

Derek P. Gilbert hosts SkyWatchTV, a Christian television program that airs on several national networks, the long-running interview podcast A View from the Bunker, and co-hosts SciFriday, a weekly television program that analyzes science news with his wife, author Sharon K. Gilbert.
Before joining SkyWatchTV in 2015, his secular broadcasting career spanned more than 25 years with stops at radio stations in Philadelphia, Saint Louis, Little Rock, and suburban Chicago.
Derek is a Christian, a husband and a father. He’s been a regular speaker at Bible prophecy conferences in recent years. Derek’s most recent book is The Great Inception: Satan’s PSYOPs from Eden to Armageddon. He has also published the novels The God Conspiracy and Iron Dragons, and he’s a contributing author to the nonfiction anthologies God’s Ghostbusters, Blood on the Altar, I Predict: What 12 Global Experts Believe You Will See by 2025, and When Once We Were a Nation.

December 8, 2022/0 Comments/by Derek Gilbert

Prophesy, History, Discoveries, Resources

The Monster and the Great Beast 666

This article is weird. Not by design; it just happens to deal with a topic most churches ignore—the UFO phenomenon. And it connects dots between “ancient aliens,” the 20^th century’s most notorious practitioner of the occult (he called himself the Great Beast 666), and an impoverished author of gothic horror fiction.

We’ll start with the latter character first.

H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) is one of the giants of 20^th century literature, although he wasn’t recognized as such until after his death. And because he wrote scary stories, he wasn’t the kind of writer who got invites to fancy parties. Lovecraft and his friends, most of whom he knew through volumes of letters—by one estimate, 100,000 of them—that some believe were more influential than his published work, wrote to entertain, usually by crafting terrifying tales and conjuring monstrous images of overpowering, inhuman evil.

As a child, Lovecraft was tormented by night terrors. Beginning at age six, young Howard was visited by what he called night-gaunts—faceless humanoids with black, rubbery skin, bat-like wings, and barbed tails, who carried off their victims to Dreamland. The nocturnal visitors were so terrifying that Howard remembered trying desperately to stay awake every night during this period of his life. It’s believed that these dreams, which haunted him for more than a year, had a powerful influence on his fiction.

From a Christian perspective, it’s a shame that Lovecraft’s mother, who raised Howard with his aunts after his father was committed to a psychiatric hospital when Howard was only three, failed to recognize the phenomenon for what it probably was—demonic oppression of her only child. But by the late 19^th century, the technologically advanced West didn’t have room in its scientific worldview for such things. In fact, Lovecraft claimed to be a staunch atheist throughout his life.

Ironically, despite his disbelief, the fiction of H. P. Lovecraft has been adapted and adopted by occultists around the world after his death. The man who died a pauper not only found an audience over the last eighty years, he inspired an army of authors who have preserved and expanded the nightmarish universe that sprang from Lovecraft’s tortured dreams.

Although Lovecraft claimed he didn’t believe in the supernatural, he was more than happy to use the spirit realm as grist for his writing mill. Lovecraft apparently saw potential in the doctrines of Blavatsky for stories that would sell. They did, but mostly after his death. During his lifetime, Lovecraft was barely known outside the readership of pulp magazines, the type of publication called a “penny dreadful” a couple generations earlier in England.

While Lovecraft may have rejected the idea of a lost continent or two as the now-forgotten motherland of humanity, the concept served him well as an author. The notion that certain humans gifted (or cursed) with the ability to see beyond the veil were communicating with intelligences vastly greater than our own also made for compelling horror. Lovecraft viewed the universe as a cold, unfeeling place; so, in his fiction those intelligences, unlike the kindly ascended masters of Blavatsky’s world, had no use for humanity — except, perhaps, as slaves or sacrifices. The horror of discovering oneself at the mercy of immense, ancient beings incapable of mercy is a common theme in Lovecraft’s tales, and he gave those ideas flesh and bone with carefully crafted prose that infused them with a sense of dread not easily or often distilled onto the printed page.

It’s fair to say that Lovecraft’s style of gothic horror has had a powerful influence on horror fiction and film over the last 75 years. Stephen King, Roger Corman, John Carpenter and Ridley Scott, among others, drew on Lovecraft’s style if not his Cthulhu mythos directly. Maybe that’s not the kind of legacy left by Ernest Hemingway or F. Scott Fitzgerald, but compare the number of people who have seen The Thing, Alien, or any movie based on a King novel (The Shining, The Stand, It, etc.) to the number of people who’ve read Hemingway or Fitzgerald. (Not claimed to read them; but actually sat down and read them.) Even though H. P. Lovecraft was basically unknown during his lifetime, he’s had far greater influence on pop culture than the literary greats who were his contemporaries.

And, as we’ll see, the influence of the staunch atheist Lovecraft has bled over into the metaphysical realm. Maybe it’s fitting that the principalities and powers aligned against their Creator would find an atheist a most useful tool.

While Lovecraft was beginning his career as a writer, across the ocean another man fascinated with arcana and the influence of old gods on our world was hearing voices from beyond. Edward Alexander “Aleister” Crowley, born 1875 in Warwickshire, England, traveled to Cairo in 1904 with his new bride, Rose Kelly. While there, Crowley, who’d been a member of the Order of the Golden Dawn about five years earlier, set up a temple room in their apartment and began performing rituals to invoke Egyptian deities. Eventually, something calling itself Aiwass, the messenger of Hoor-Paar-Kraat (known to the Greeks as an aspect of Horus, Harpocrates, the god of silence), answered. Over a period of three days, April 8-10, 1904, Crowley transcribed what he heard from the voice of Aiwass.

The Voice of Aiwass came apparently from over my left shoulder, from the furthest corner of the room. […]

I had a strong impression that the speaker was actually in the corner where he seemed to be, in a body of “fine matter,” transparent as a veil of gauze, or a cloud of incense-smoke. He seemed to be a tall, dark man in his thirties, well-knit, active and strong, with the face of a savage king, and eyes veiled lest their gaze should destroy what they saw. The dress was not Arab; it suggested Assyria or Persia, but very vaguely. I took little note of it, for to me at that time Aiwass and an “angel” such as I had often seen in visions, a being purely astral.

I now incline to believe that Aiwass is not only the God or Demon or Devil once held holy in Sumer, and mine own Guardian Angel, but also a man as I am, insofar as He uses a human body to make His magical link with Mankind, whom He loves…

That eventually became the central text for Crowley’s new religion, Thelema, which in turn is the basis for Ordo Templi Orientis. The O.T.O. is a secret society similar to Freemasonry that, like Blavatsky’s Theosophical Society and the Freemasons, believes in universal brotherhood. The primary difference between Thelema and Theosophy is in the nature of the entities sending messages from beyond. Blavatsky claimed to hear from ascended masters who were shepherding humanity’s evolution; Crowley claimed to be guided by gods from the Egyptian pantheon: Nuit, Hadit, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit.

The irony of all this is that Lovecraft, who denied the existence of Crowley’s gods and Blavatsky’s mahatmas, may have drawn his inspiration from the same well.

A key thread woven through the fiction of H. P. Lovecraft was a fictional grimoire, or book of witchcraft, called the Necronomicon. The book, according to the Lovecraft canon, was written in the 8^th century A.D. by the “Mad Arab,” Abdul Alhazred (Lovecraft’s childhood nickname because of his love for the book 1001 Arabian Nights). Perhaps significantly, inspiration for the invented grimoire came to Lovecraft in a dream, and through his many letters to friends and colleagues, he encouraged others to incorporate the mysterious tome in their works. Over time, references to the Necronomicon by a growing number of authors creating Lovecraftian fiction led to a growing belief that the book was, in fact, real. Significantly, one of those who believed in the book was occultist Kenneth Grant.

Grant was an English ceremonial magician and an acolyte of Crowley, serving as Crowley’s personal secretary toward the end of his life. After Crowley’s death, Grant was named head of the O.T.O. in Britain by Crowley’s successor, Karl Germer. However, Grant’s promotion of an extraterrestrial “Sirius/Set current” in Crowley’s work infuriated Germer, who expelled Grant from the organization for heresy.

Lovecraft’s fiction inspired some of Grant’s innovations to Thelema. Grant said Lovecraft “snatched from nightmare-space his lurid dream-readings of the Necronomicon.” Instead of attributing the Necronomicon to Lovecraft’s imagination, Grant took it as evidence of the tome’s existence as an astral book. Furthermore, Grant believed others, including Crowley and Blavatsky, had “glimpsed the Akashic Necronomicon”—a reference to the Akashic records, a Theosophist concept describing a collection of all human thoughts, deeds, and emotions that exists on another plane of reality accessed only through proper spiritual discipline.

Kenneth Grant was perhaps the first to notice the strange parallels between the writings of H. P. Lovecraft and Aleister Crowley. In The Dark Lord, an extensive analysis of Grant’s magickal system and Lovecraft’s influence on it, researcher and author Peter Levenda documented a number of these similarities.

In 1907, Crowley was writing some of the works that became seminal to the doctrines of Thelema, known as The Holy Books. These include Liber Liberi vel Lapidus Lazuli, Liber Cordis Cincti Serpente, and other works written between October 30 and November 1 of that year, and Liber Arcanorum and Liber Carcerorum, written between December 5th and 14th that same year. Lovecraft would have had no knowledge of this, as he was only a seventeen-year old recluse living at home on Angell Street in Providence, Rhode Island, dreaming of the stars.

Instead, he later would write of an orgiastic ritual taking place that year in the bayous outside New Orleans, Louisiana, and on the very same day that Crowley was writing the books enumerated above. The story Lovecraft wrote is entitled “The Call of Cthulhu” and is arguably his most famous work. He wrote the story in 1926, in late August or early September, but placed the action in New Orleans in 1907 and later in Providence in 1925.

How is this relevant? Lovecraft’s placement of the orgiastic ritual in honor of the high priest of the Great Old Ones, Cthulhu, and the discovery of a statue of Cthulhu by the New Orleans police on Halloween, 1907 coincides precisely with Crowley’s fevered writing of his own gothic prose. In the Liber Liberi vel Lapidus Lazuli, for instance, Crowley writes the word “Tutulu” for the first time. He claims not to know what this word means, or where it came from. As the name of Lovecraft’s fictional alien god can be pronounced “Kutulu,” it seems more than coincidental, as Kenneth Grant himself noted.

However, this is only the tip of an eldritch iceberg. In Crowley’s Liber Cordis Cincti Serpente—or “The Book of the Heart Girt with a Serpent”— there are numerous references to the “Abyss of the Great Deep,” to Typhon, Python, and the appearance of an “old gnarled fish” with tentacles … all descriptions that match Lovecraft’s imagined Cthulhu perfectly. Not approximately, but perfectly. Crowley’s volume was written on November 1, 1907. The ritual for Cthulhu in New Orleans took place on the same day, month and year.

Now, this could be nothing more than a strange coincidence—if you’re a coincidence theorist. Levenda, an excellent researcher and gifted author, and Kenneth Grant before him, concluded otherwise.

It may actually be more logical to suggest, as an explanation for some of these coincidences, that darker forces were at work. In fact, it is possible that the same forces of which Lovecraft himself writes—the telepathic communication between followers of Cthulhu and the Great Old Ones—was what prompted him to write these fictional accounts of real events. Either Lovecraft was in some kind of telepathic communication with Crowley, or both men were in telepathic communication with … Something Else.

As Christians, we should at least consider the supernatural explanation. If the apostle Paul knew his theology, and he did, then we must consider the influence of principalities and powers on our natural world. And that’s the most likely source of the odd, highly improbable Crowley-Cthulhu connection.

And, as we’ll see in the months ahead, this improbable, long-distance link between the occultist Aleister Crowley and horror fiction author H. P. Lovecraft has metastasized over the last century what passes for official doctrine of the Church of Ancient Aliens.

Derek Gilbert

Derek Gilbert Bio

Derek P. Gilbert hosts SkyWatchTV, a Christian television program that airs on several national networks, the long-running interview podcast A View from the Bunker, and co-hosts SciFriday, a weekly television program that analyzes science news with his wife, author Sharon K. Gilbert.
Before joining SkyWatchTV in 2015, his secular broadcasting career spanned more than 25 years with stops at radio stations in Philadelphia, Saint Louis, Little Rock, and suburban Chicago.
Derek is a Christian, a husband and a father. He’s been a regular speaker at Bible prophecy conferences in recent years. Derek’s most recent book is The Great Inception: Satan’s PSYOPs from Eden to Armageddon. He has also published the novels The God Conspiracy and Iron Dragons, and he’s a contributing author to the nonfiction anthologies God’s Ghostbusters, Blood on the Altar, I Predict: What 12 Global Experts Believe You Will See by 2025, and When Once We Were a Nation.

November 18, 2022/0 Comments/by Derek Gilbert

Leadership, Church Growth

The Covid Beast-A Book Review

Dr Kevan Kruse and co-author Dr Dennis O’Hara have carefully and painstakingly researched the facts about the global impacting virus that has touched every life on planet earth. As Bible students and scholars, their investigative prowess and biblical knowledge give them the great ability to discover and uncover many details and understandings that most laypeople would never know to look for or see! Their book “The Covid Beast” details multiple research reports and narratives that have been published and presented as true and accurate information. What they present are the deception and lies that all of us were told and they expose the true intent!

Thankfully this book sifts through the garbage and gets to the truth.

The Bible prophesies about many events that must take place before Christ returns. This book explores if and how the Covid plague might be a part of this. They investigate the secret intentions behind the virus and the one world government’s well planned attack on the Church.

Many Bible scholars have given opinions and sited scripture regarding Covid and what Dr Kruse and O’Hara do is take many steps farther by including and exposing the science in graphic detail and evil intent behind it all.

The Covid Beast dissects the science behind the creation of this plague and breaks it down so it can be easily understood. They present a well documented case as to the true intent of covid being purposely released.

The “Church” is the real target. The journey you take with “The Covid Beast” makes this very clear!

In a time where the world is in the greatest turmoil in history it would be very easy to say that the developers of covid accomplished their mission. This book will arm every Pastor, Christian and Bible believer with the information/ammunition to answer any and all questions regarding covid and also to see how this is part of the biblical prophesies.

It is also an excellent resource tool for anyone interested in the facts behind covid -19!

I strongly recommend The Covid Beast and suggest you research for yourself the links they have included.

Paul is the Founder and CEO of All Pro Pastors International, a ministry that encourages and challenges Pastors to join together as Kingdom Brothers to develop trust, accountability and unity. It is a ministry that strengthens Pastors marriages, families, and ministries by establishing “Champions Tables”. The “Champions Table” is a safe place where Pastors can meet together and develop genuine relationships. The Champions Table is a pastors “Prayer Fortress!”

Pastor Paul Pickern is married to his wife Linda. They have 5 children (Tony, Stephanie, Dale, Seth, Schyler) and 12 grand children. Their home is in Plant City, Florida between Tampa and Orlando. Paul was born in Belleville, Illinois and Linda was born in Charleston, West Virginia.

October 31, 2022/0 Comments/by Paul Pickern

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!

Paul is the Founder and CEO of All Pro Pastors International, a ministry that encourages and challenges Pastors to join together as Kingdom Brothers to develop trust, accountability and unity. It is a ministry that strengthens Pastors marriages, families, and ministries by establishing “Champions Tables”. The “Champions Table” is a safe place where Pastors can meet together and develop genuine relationships. The Champions Table is a pastors “Prayer Fortress!”

Pastor Paul Pickern is married to his wife Linda. They have 5 children (Tony, Stephanie, Dale, Seth, Schyler) and 12 grand children. Their home is in Plant City, Florida between Tampa and Orlando. Paul was born in Belleville, Illinois and Linda was born in Charleston, West Virginia.

Prophesy, History, Discoveries

October 5, 2022/0 Comments/by Paul Pickern

The Rise of Mystical Scientism

Humans have wondered about the stars since forever. That’s understandable; they’re beautiful and mysterious, as out of reach as mountain peaks. And perhaps for the same reasons, the earliest speculation about the stars revolved around gods, not extraterrestrials.

As with mountains, humans have associated stars with deities since the beginning of human history. Three of the most important gods in the ancient Near East, from Sumer to Israel and its neighbors, were the sun, moon, and the planet Venus. To the Sumerians they were the deities Utu, Nanna, and the goddess Inanna; later, in Babylon, they were Shamash, Sîn, and Ishtar. The Amorites worshiped Sapash, Yarikh, and Astarte—who was also the god Attar when Venus was the morning star (and here you thought gender fluidity was a new thing).

God not only recognized that the nations worshiped these small-G gods, He allotted the nations to them as their inheritance—punishment for the Tower of Babel incident.

When the Most High agave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. (Deuteronomy 32:8)

And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. (Deuteronomy 4:19)

In other words, God placed the nations of the world under small-G “gods” represented by the sun, moon, and stars, but He reserved Israel for Himself. The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were to remain faithful to YHWH alone, and through Israel He would bring forth a Savior.

But the gods YHWH allotted to the nations went rogue. That earned them a death sentence.

God has taken his place in the divine council;

in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:

“How long will you judge unjustly

and show partiality to the wicked? Selah […]

I said, “You are gods,

sons of the Most High, all of you;

nevertheless, like men you shall die,

and fall like any prince.” (Psalm 82:1, 6–7)

To be clear: Those small-G gods are not to be confused with the capital-G God, YHWH, the Creator of all things including those “sons of the Most High.” Theologians and Bible teachers generally treat the gods of Psalm 82 as humans, usually described as corrupt Israelite kings or judges. With all due respect, they’re wrong. The most obvious error in their view is that verse 7—“nevertheless, like men you shall die”—makes no sense if God is addressing a human audience.

No. When the Bible says “gods,” it means gods.

There are other, more technical reasons to view the divine council as a heavenly royal court. We direct you to Dr. Michael S. Heiser’s excellent website, www.TheDivineCouncil.com, for accessible, scholarly, biblical support for this view.

Seriously, go there and read. Understanding the divine council view is critical to really grasping much of what’s going on throughout the Old Testament: Supernatural beings have exercised the free will they were created with to rebel against their Creator. As Christians, this should be our default view. After all, Paul spelled it out:

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

Rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, spiritual forces of evil. Those aren’t concepts, ideas, or random acts of misfortune. Paul was warning us about supernatural evil intelligences who want to destroy us. And guess what? At least some of them are “in the heavenly places.”

We’ll refer to that verse many times in this book. Ephesians 6:12 is key. As our friend Pastor Carl Gallups likes to say, spiritual warfare is a lot more than finding the willpower to pass up a second bowl of ice cream.

Why this detour though the Bible? Two reasons. First, to document that humanity has looked to the stars as gods for at least the last 5,000 years, as far as Babel and probably beyond. And second, to set the stage for what we believe official disclosure is truly about—the return of the old gods.

You see, the Enemy has been playing a very long game. Once upon a time, Western civilization generally held a biblical worldview. The influence of the spirit realm on our lives wasn’t perfectly understood, but at least it was acknowledged. And while the church of Rome can be fairly criticized for keeping the Bible out of the hands of lay people for nearly a thousand years, the scholars and theologians of the church made a fair effort to interpret their world through a biblical filter.

How have we become so secular in our worldview? It appears that the principalities and powers have nudged and prodded humanity through the Enlightenment, then Modernism and Postmodernism to move modern man from a supernatural worldview to one that could believe in an external creator while denying the existence of a supernatural Creator.

Hence, ancient aliens.

In other words, to accept our ET creator/ancestors we first had to reject the biblical God. In 1973, British science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke wrote, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” By substituting advanced science for the supernatural, ancient alien evangelists are spreading a sci-fi religion for the 21^st century. It offers mystery, transcendence, and answers to those nagging Big Questions. And best of all, ETI believers don’t need to change the way they think or act.

This view found fertile intellectual soil in areas influenced by Greek philosophy. The evidence is compelling that the rise and spread of Greek thought has run parallel with the belief in life among the stars.

A pause here for a big “thank you” to author and artist Jeffrey W. Mardis. His excellent book What Dwells Beyond: The Bible Believer’s Handbook to Understanding Life in the Universe was very helpful in guiding Josh Peck and me as we researched our book, The Day the Earth Stands Still. Rather than rewrite his work, however, we’ll summarize here the emergence of cosmic pluralism, the concept that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe, and then suggest you get a copy of What Dwells Beyond for your personal reference library.

The idea that there are more inhabited worlds in the universe than just our own isn’t new. It dates to six centuries before the birth of Jesus, about the time Nebuchadnezzar led the army of Babylon across the ancient Near East to conquer, among other nations, the kingdom of Judah. A Greek philosopher, mathematician, and engineer named Thales of Miletus (c. 620 B.C.—c. 546 B.C.) is credited with being the father of the scientific method. According to later philosophers, Thales was the first to reject religious cosmology in favor of a naturalistic approach to understanding the world. Among his theories was the belief that the stars in the night sky were other planets, some of which were inhabited.

The influence of Thales is felt even today. While there are benefits to searching for the natural causes of, say, earthquakes rather than attributing them to the temper of Zeus, denying the influence of the supernatural altogether has blinded science in many fields of inquiry. For example, researchers into the effects of prayer tend to focus on the physiological benefits. It reduces stress and makes you “nicer.”

Well and good, but since prayer is a hotline to the Creator of all things, could there be more behind the benefits of prayer than just sitting quietly? Is it possible that people who pray are nicer and more relaxed because they’ve tapped into what the apostle Paul called “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding”?

To a scientist with a naturalist bias, the answer is, “Of course not.” Since God can’t be observed and quantified, He must not exist. And so extra “niceness” is a result of what can be observed—the physical act of talking to (in their minds, an imaginary) God.

The intellectual descendants of Thales included influential thinkers such as Pythagoras, who in turn influenced Plato, as well as Democritus and Leucippus, who developed the theory that everything is composed of atoms. Epicurus, building on the teaching of Democritus, proposed that atoms moved under their own power, and that they, through random chance, clumped together to form, well, everything—matter, consciousness, and even the gods themselves, whom Epicurus believed were neutral parties who didn’t interfere in the lives of humans.

It’s clear that Epicurus and his followers have had quite an influence on modern thought. Interestingly, about three hundred years after the death of Epicurus, Paul encountered some Epicureans (and their philosophical rivals, the Stoics) on Mars Hill in Athens. Epicurus, cited by the early Christian author Lactantius, is credited with posing what’s called The Problem of Evil:

“God,” he says, “either wants to eliminate bad things and cannot, or can but does not want to, or neither wishes to nor can, or both wants to and can. If he wants to and cannot, then he is weak – and this does not apply to God. If he can but does not want to, then he is spiteful – which is equally foreign to God’s nature. If he neither wants to nor can, he is both weak and spiteful, and so not a god. If he wants to and can, which is the only thing fitting for a god, where then do bad things come from? Or why does he not eliminate them?”

I know that most of the philosophers who defend [divine] providence are commonly shaken by this argument and against their wills are almost driven to admit that God does not care, which is exactly what Epicurus is looking for.

You can see why the Epicureans wanted to tangle with a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ—they must have thought Paul would be an easy target. Ha!

Of course, this so-called problem is often presented as “proof” that God doesn’t exist. Epicurus’ thought exercise assumes that there is only one god (and there is, in fact, only one capital-G God, YHWH, but the Bible clearly names multiple small-g gods, and God Himself calls them gods) who is responsible for everything, good and bad, that happens on Earth. In other words, to satisfy the Epicureans, free will would be eliminated for every being in creation except the Creator, because to eliminate bad things requires eliminating the power of people who want to do them.

And yet the philosophy of Epicurus—that everything is the product of natural processes, even the supernatural—dominates Western thought, even though most people who hold it have never heard of Epicurus.

It’s no coincidence that the influence of the Greek philosophers faded with the spread of Christianity. The materialistic bias of Greek thought was pushed back for a time by the supernatural power and message of the gospel. To be blunt, when you follow materialist philosophy to its logical end, you’re left with the worldview of Epicurus—the only goal in life is to pursue pleasure and avoid pain.

Why? What’s the point of that? How would Epicurus answer the Big Questions: Where do we come from, why are we here, and where do we go when we die? The Epicurean view of life is depressingly bleak: We come from nothing through random natural processes; our purpose in life is to avoid being hurt; and we go nowhere when we die because our souls cease to exist.

Nothing, nothing, and nothing. That’s what a materialist worldview offers.

And yet it came storming back after more than a thousand years underground with the dawn of the so-called Age of Reason, the Enlightenment. Ironically, the emergence of Islam in the seventh century may be partly responsible for holding back the influence of Greek philosophy in the West. After the first great wave of Muslim expansion wiped out Christianity in northern Africa, travel from the Eastern Roman Empire to Western Europe became more difficult as travel across the Mediterranean was no longer safe. It was only after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the wave of refugees who fled west to Christian Europe with copies of the works of ancient Greek thinkers that the Enlightenment took root.

And those ideas are blooming now in the twenty-first century.

Derek Gilbert

Derek Gilbert Bio

Derek P. Gilbert hosts SkyWatchTV, a Christian television program that airs on several national networks, the long-running interview podcast A View from the Bunker, and co-hosts SciFriday, a weekly television program that analyzes science news with his wife, author Sharon K. Gilbert.
Before joining SkyWatchTV in 2015, his secular broadcasting career spanned more than 25 years with stops at radio stations in Philadelphia, Saint Louis, Little Rock, and suburban Chicago.
Derek is a Christian, a husband and a father. He’s been a regular speaker at Bible prophecy conferences in recent years. Derek’s most recent book is The Great Inception: Satan’s PSYOPs from Eden to Armageddon. He has also published the novels The God Conspiracy and Iron Dragons, and he’s a contributing author to the nonfiction anthologies God’s Ghostbusters, Blood on the Altar, I Predict: What 12 Global Experts Believe You Will See by 2025, and When Once We Were a Nation.

September 22, 2022/0 Comments/by Derek Gilbert

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.

Dr. Kevan Kruse

Dr. Kevan Kruse has been practicing Chiropractic in the Bay area since 1992. Educated at the University of Tampa and Life University, Kevan received a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and a Doctorate of Chiropractic. Kevan was born in Florida, but he was raised with down to earth Midwestern values. These values translate into an office that is dedicated to serving patients in a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere. Each patient is evaluated on an individual basis and treated appropriately.

Dr. Kruse is also open to multi-disciplinary approaches to health care, with his focus being primarily chiropractic and nutritional ways to help solve health problems. His fascination and extensive participation in sports makes his treatment of automobile accidents, work related injuries and sports injuries especially on-target. Dr. Kruse is married to Alexandra and they have two sons named Wiatte and Whestan. Dr. Kruse supports many local charities and attends Bell Shoals Baptist church, where he occasionally teaches classes on various topics.

Why is the church important? The church is where the friends of Jesus meet and grow. It is a hospital for those who admit they are sick and who want to get better. The church is not a building or an organization, it is just people. The church is also part of your spiritual family. Does anyone you know have a perfect family? Good, because that won’t happen in church either. You won’t like all the people there, but you will grow to love many of them. You may have to visit around some to find the right church for you, but if you work at it, you will be better for it. My church friends are one of my greatest sources or encouragement and joy.

August 25, 2022/0 Comments/by Dr. Kevan Kruse

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!

Paul is the Founder and CEO of All Pro Pastors International, a ministry that encourages and challenges Pastors to join together as Kingdom Brothers to develop trust, accountability and unity. It is a ministry that strengthens Pastors marriages, families, and ministries by establishing “Champions Tables”. The “Champions Table” is a safe place where Pastors can meet together and develop genuine relationships. The Champions Table is a pastors “Prayer Fortress!”

Pastor Paul Pickern is married to his wife Linda. They have 5 children (Tony, Stephanie, Dale, Seth, Schyler) and 12 grand children. Their home is in Plant City, Florida between Tampa and Orlando. Paul was born in Belleville, Illinois and Linda was born in Charleston, West Virginia.

August 8, 2022/0 Comments/by Paul Pickern

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,

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.

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.

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”

Pastor Don Rhone

Pastor Don Rhone Sr.
Founder of Bridge of the Bay Community Church, Riverview Fl.
Pastor Don and his wife Aleta are New Orleans natives and have ministry for 30
years. They have ministered in the Tampa Bay/Riverview area for over 20 years.
The Rhones are due to activate “Bridging Solutions and Purpose to Life” online
outreach ministry pointing people back to church. Pastor/teacher isn’t just a
position, but it’s their passion and call.

August 4, 2022/0 Comments/by Pastor Don Rhone

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!

Paul is the Founder and CEO of All Pro Pastors International, a ministry that encourages and challenges Pastors to join together as Kingdom Brothers to develop trust, accountability and unity. It is a ministry that strengthens Pastors marriages, families, and ministries by establishing “Champions Tables”. The “Champions Table” is a safe place where Pastors can meet together and develop genuine relationships. The Champions Table is a pastors “Prayer Fortress!”

Pastor Paul Pickern is married to his wife Linda. They have 5 children (Tony, Stephanie, Dale, Seth, Schyler) and 12 grand children. Their home is in Plant City, Florida between Tampa and Orlando. Paul was born in Belleville, Illinois and Linda was born in Charleston, West Virginia.

July 30, 2022/0 Comments/by Paul Pickern

Pastors Need Your Love Too!

Today as we look around in nearly every community Satan is running rampant! My last call was a Pastor who had to witness a dying child from an overdose. Last week an innocent teenager was killed in a drive-by shooting. Another Pastor in my community was rejoicing at the success of their private K-8th grade school but praying for more pastors to join his fight in his poverty stricken neighborhood. The distress of the covid/vaccine narrative put every pastor in a position that forces decisions and comments that someone he serves will likely be in disagreement. The financial impact of todays economy is hitting pastors and their families very hard. Gasoline prices and grocery prices are hindering or crippling many pastors ability to minister.

The discussion of politics in church has made so many pastors too timid to preach the full gospel for fear of offending someone and believe me it is affecting you more than you know. It is not a matter of politics when our children are being taught trash in school! It is an attack on God’s Word and you need a pastor who will fight and defend you and your family without fear! Preaching fearlessly in the whole armor of God takes great courage these days!

Pastors need to feel your love and support today more than ever.

As members of a local church, we are considered “Sheep” and the Pastor is our “Shepherd”. These shepherds are being stretched, attacked, threatened and under-minded at every turn. The “Church” is being harassed and ridiculed publicly on TV and Social Media daily. Many of our elected officials blatantly support efforts to rid our countries established Christian values and the next thing to go will be your church!

Your Pastor needs your love! Every Pastor has their story, their struggles, their family issues and unrealistic expectations by their “sheep”!

This article is not one of complaint or condemnation but one of crying out to you to pray for your pastors and their families. Your pastors need to know that they are loved and appreciated! They need to know that as “Sheep” you need and want truth preached. Your pastor needs to hear from you that you want and need a strong bold leader to follow and if they will lead with courage, you will follow!

I challenge you now to be bold and call your pastor today! Your honesty will be the evidence that you sincerely do love your “Pastor”!

At the very least, send this article to them, with your love!

Paul is the Founder and CEO of All Pro Pastors International, a ministry that encourages and challenges Pastors to join together as Kingdom Brothers to develop trust, accountability and unity. It is a ministry that strengthens Pastors marriages, families, and ministries by establishing “Champions Tables”. The “Champions Table” is a safe place where Pastors can meet together and develop genuine relationships. The Champions Table is a pastors “Prayer Fortress!”

Pastor Paul Pickern is married to his wife Linda. They have 5 children (Tony, Stephanie, Dale, Seth, Schyler) and 12 grand children. Their home is in Plant City, Florida between Tampa and Orlando. Paul was born in Belleville, Illinois and Linda was born in Charleston, West Virginia.