Jesus said that He was the Vine, and we are the branches. We all know this verse; we even quote it, but do we understand it? Do we understand what it means to be the branches of Jesus and how it impacts our lives as followers of Christ? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the importance of being the branches of Jesus in his message, The Vine and The Vinedresser: The Vine.
John 15:1-11 Isaiah 43:19 Joel 2:23 Leviticus 23:40 Deuteronomy 12:4-7
The Vine
Jesus Is The Vine
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
John 15:1-11
Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. We can’t do anything apart from Jesus. It’s all through His strength that we produce fruit.
Bear Fruit
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
As humans, it’s difficult to move forward without having the past constantly tugging at us. We want to remember the past, but not to the point that it holds us back. Is holding on to the past that bad? If we remember the past, are we dwelling in it? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the importance of moving forward and its relationship to the past in his message, Look To The Future.
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
Philippians 3:13-16
1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
Many people believe in God. In fact, the majority of people believe in God, but the majority of people who believe in God don’t truly have a relationship with God outside of church on Sunday mornings. The idea is that as long as they go to church and hear the word of God, that’s enough to save them. But is this Biblical? Is there more to salvation than just going to church or knowing the Bible? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the importance of building our relationship with God as well as how to do that effectively in his message, Oh To Know Him.
18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
Exodus 20:18–21
23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
In the Christian world, we talk about different spirits. We talk about the spirit of Python, the spirit of Jezebel, the spirit of antichrist, and so on. Like all nations, America is also under a spiritual influence. A spirit that’s bent on depopulation, the murder of babies, and removing the man from the equation altogether. Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the spirit behind America’s increasing darkness in his fiery message, The Spirit of Pharaoh.
Exodus 1:8–14, 22 Exodus 1:15–22 Mark 16:15–18 Exodus 5:20–21 1 Peter 2:9–10 Revelation 9:1-6 Luke 10:19
The Spirit of Pharaoh
Pharaoh (King of Egypt) in the Bible
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. 15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. 18 So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20 So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”
During this season, the world seems to get darker and darker. This time of year is when the world celebrates Halloween, All Hallow’s Eve, or Samhain. Many Christians will take part in trick or treating (or Trunk or Treating), dressing up, or decorating their homes in dark and creepy decorations this Halloween. If Halloween is about darkness and horror, what does the Church have to do with it? If it’s just a tradition, is it okay for Christians to celebrate and participate in Halloween, or is it opening spiritual doors? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the Truth behind this gruesome holiday in his message, Halloween, A Tradition or A Door?
1 Samuel 16:14–16 1 Samuel 14:47–48 Matthew 12:28 Matthew 11:12 1 Samuel 14:47b–48 Numbers 31:12 Numbers 31:14–16 1 Thessalonians 5:22 (KJV) 1 Corinthians 8:13 1 Samuel 15:23a
Halloween, A Tradition or A Door?
The Tradition of Halloween (All Hallow’s Eve or Samhain) in the Bible
The origins of Halloween are in the occult, specifically the pagan festival of Samhain. Therefore, why are Christians celebrating this pagan festival? Because if it is pagan, then it isn’t of God. If it isn’t of God, then it is evil. Therefore, why are Christians celebrating and participating in Halloween if it’s evil?
14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”
2 Corinthians 6:14-18
John Ramirez’ Five Reasons Christians Shouldn’t Celebrate Halloween:
1. Gives Devil Legal Rights 2. Eternal Mistake 3. Important Satanic Holiday 4. Grieves Holy Spirit 5. Demonically Cursed Candy and Costumes
Opening Spiritual Doors
20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Isaiah 5:20
20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. 23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:20-23
43 When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.
Today our society pushes self-love and self-acceptance. We teach our kids from a young age to just be who they are. While this may seem like a positive and motivational practice, the results are a self-pleasuring, conceited, vain, and hard-of-heart generation. So, does this mean it’s wrong to love ourselves? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the importance of dying to self in his message, Lovers of Self.
1But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
24 Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay each person according to what he has done.”
Matthew 16:24-27
The Importance of Destroying Being a Lover of Self
31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die [to self] daily.
1 Corinthians 15:31
10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
All of us have a mountain in front of us that we’ll have to climb to get to our promised land or our next blessing. The Israelites had to face the Nephilim (giants), Abraham had to face the sacrifice of his beloved son, Jesus had to face the cross, and one day all Christians who are still alive on earth during the time of the Beast and the Man of Lawlessness will have to face The Great Tribulation. Mountains or battles are inevitable, but with God, we can climb them, overcome them, and get to the other side where our blessing awaits us. But why? Why do we have battles in our lives, and how do we overcome them? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the spiritual battles before us in his encouraging message, Ziklag.
1Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire 2 and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. 3 And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. 5 David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
In John 4:35–38, Jesus said to look, the fields are white unto harvest, but what does that mean? Who are the laborers? Are the fields being white a good thing? How do we reap the white harvest? What is the white harvest we are supposed to reap? Does it matter if we reap this white harvest or not? How important is the white harvest? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he explains Jesus’ analogy in his message, Look, The Fields Are White Unto Harvest.
John 4:35–38 Matthew 9:37–38 Matthew 9:36 Jeremiah 29:11–14a Matthew 9:35 Matthew 7:21 1 Corinthians 3:8–9 1 Peter 2:9
Look, The Fields Are White Unto Harvest
Where Do We Find This Verse?
35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
John 4:35–38
What is the White Harvest, and Who are the Laborers?
The harvest is the souls of the world, and the laborers are the Church. This is the call of John 4:35-38. We are to be the laborers in His field so that souls might be harvested. Paul uses this same analogy when explaining that it doesn’t matter who planted the seed or who watered the seed; it only matters that the seed is nourished so that it might grow and be harvested.
8He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
1 Corinthians 3:8–9
Why is This White Harvest Important?
We are all called to do the will of God the Father. In fact, Jesus said that it was so important, that unless you do the will of the Father, then you have no salvation, even if you believe.
21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Matthew 7:21-23
What is the Will of the Father?
There’s a reason that Jesus said to look because the fields are white unto harvest. He didn’t just bring our attention to the fields being white unto harvest; no, He was bringing our attention to the desire of the Father. The fields are white unto harvest; you don’t even have to sow the field or even work it, because He (Jesus) did that. He paid the price, and in doing so, He did all the heavy labor. All we have to do is harvest the field of souls by telling them of the good news of Christ Jesus. Why? Because God doesn’t want any of His creation to be destroyed, but He wants them all to have eternal life. This is why He has called us all to be laborers in His field.
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
2 Peter 3:8-10
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
Jeremiah 29:11-14
16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. 18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
John 3:16-18
So, once more, I will repeat. Look, the fields are white unto harvest. The souls are ready to hear the good news of Christ Jesus. We don’t have much longer on this earth to win souls for Christ. We don’t have much longer to harvest the white fields before us. It’s time to be the laborers that Christ has called us to be. It’s time to win souls for Christ.
The enemy doesn’t come as an evil man dressed in all black; the enemy comes as our deepest desires. Temptation seduces us with empty words and promises until we give in temptation and are lulled asleep by the enemy as Delilah did to Samson so many years ago. Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the signs of the enemy trying to lull us into a spiritual death in his message Sleeping with the Enemy Pt. 2: Samson.
The enemy lulls us to sleep so that we don’t even realize that we’ve spiritually died and the LORD has left us. Don’t succumb to your Delilah as Samson did. Don’t allow the temptation of the enemy to overcome you so that you are lulled asleep.
1 Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her. 2 The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.” 3 But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.
4 After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.”
18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. 19 She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him.21 And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison. 22 But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
We live in a society that is ever-evolving and changing. The lies of the world are so deceiving that they even lead the elect astray. They convince you that the sins aren’t so bad. What if they’re right? What if you don’t sin but don’t stop or warn others from sinning because it’s their own life? Is it okay? Do you have to separate yourself from all sin, or is it okay to be friends with the world? Does that make you an enemy of God? Are you playing with sin? Are there dangers to playing with sin? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the Truth in his powerful message, Sleeping with the Enemy Pt. 1: Jehoshaphat.
Sleeping with the enemy is playing with sin. The dangers of playing with sin can cost you everything, including your life.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
James 4:3-5
14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”
