Pray For The Silenced

11 Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. ~ Proverbs 24:11

Today is Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity. Today we remember those who have been silenced before they even had a chance to breathe their first breath of air. Those who were silenced before they even had a chance to be born. As Christians, we aren’t called to turn a blind eye to this kind of evil. We are called to confront this evil and remove it from our land. What does that mean?

We are to pray for the LORD to move in our midst, forgive us for allowing it to go on for so long, and then we are to vote for those willing to change it. Willing to protect the unborn. That is our charge given to us from above.

Today, take some time to pray for those who are thinking of aborting their baby. Pray for those who have aborted their babies. And pray that those facilities that abort babies would no longer exist.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Pray For The Silenced.

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We Must Be About Our Father’s Business

Jesus said, “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.” In other words, faith alone won’t save you. We have to work. Why? Because faith without works is dead. You have to do something AFTER you have been redeemed because we aren’t saved by works but by grace through faith. So, what are we to do if faith alone isn’t enough? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the acceptable year of the LORD in his message, We Must Be About Our Father’s Business.

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Be Armed

[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

I had a dream last night that I was walking from the living room to the stairs and the front door was wide open. I slowly walked to it and looked out. There was no one outside. Just a plastic bag blowing in the wind as it rained, yet I got this scared eerie feeling come over me. So I closed the door and crept up the stairs where I saw one other person in my home. He was keeping very low to the ground and told me he was the only one. He then handed me a box of tissues as a weapon. I thought immediately, no I need the BB gun in my side dresser. As I walked back down the stairs to find a better weapon, I woke up.

My home was in danger because the door was left unlocked and there were no defensive weapons in the home to get to. Each and every one of us is a home. A spiritual home. It’s where the Spirit of the LORD, God Himself wants to dwell, but He will never break in and force you. However, the enemy will always find a foothold.

We have to be on guard at all times. What we watch, listen to, thoughts we entertain, words that come out of our mouths, and the actions we make when we think no one’s watching. The enemy doesn’t need a formal invitation or any invitation for that matter in order to enter into your life and cause havoc. He just needs you to forget to lock the door or window. Forget to bring in the key. Forget to have your spiritual weapons on you at all times so that you might fight off his attacks.

We are to be on guard. Our enemy is not defeated to us. He is a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Seeking someone to overcome. To destroy. To enslave. We, as Christians, are not immune to his attacks. On the contrary. His attacks are aimed at us with such force, that the majority of us are bound up.

The Church has just as much divorce, depression, adultery, fornication, lust, sexual immorality, hatred, and anger as the world. In fact, we can no longer even differentiate between the world and the Church. How can we say our enemy is defeated? We are under attack and the only weapon we’ve grabbed is a box of tissues. We need to pick up our Sword of the Spirit. We need to pick up our Shield of Faith and fight back against the enemy, instead of living our lives in a false security based on the lie that because I am saved, the enemy cannot do anything to me.

We can be saved and still open doors for the enemy to attack. We can be saved and still have our lives taken from us too soon, before our time. We can be saved and still have strongholds in our lives. These are not conflicting statements, that’s why the Church looks just like the world. Because we don’t address or tear down strongholds that open doors in our lives for the enemy to wreak havoc on us, in us, and through us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Armed.

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The New Indulgences

With each generation the world seemingly gets darker and darker. Running farther and farther away from God as fast as humanly possible. Yet if we pause and look around, we’ll notice that our generations are doing nothing new, we’ve just reclaimed the old and put our own spin on it. What does that mean? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the Truth of King Solomon’s statement, “There is nothing new under the sun,” in his message, The New Indulgences.

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Hope In All His Rewards

Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with Him for a thousand years. ~ Revelation 20:4-6

One day we in Christ will reign with Him for one thousand years. When will this take place? This is after the Second Coming of the LORD, when the dead in Christ rise first, and those of us who are alive and remain are caught up to meet them and Jesus in the clouds, and we go into heaven for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb as every eye watches.

We are not told how long this celebration will last. However, in Jewish tradition, wedding feasts could last several days, and in some cases, they could last up to a week or more.

Therefore, we could be in heaven celebrating for up to seven years or more while the judgment of God is being poured out on the inhabitants of the earth. After the seven angels with the seven plagues have poured out their bowls, the wrath of God is finished, as per Revelation 15:1. So, once the wrath of God is complete, The Great Prostitute, The Beast, and that great city Babylon are all judged.

Then heaven will open and Jesus Himself, who is sitting on the white horse, will come to fight the last war, which at Armageddon. The beast and the kings of the earth with their armies are all gathered to make war against Him. But the beast and the false prophet are captured and thrown alive into the Lake of Fire.

Satan, that great dragon, will be bound with a great chain and thrown into the bottomless pit for a thousand years – the length of the Millennial reign of Christ. Then those who in Christ will reign with Christ for the thousand years. That is a great reward to look forward to. That alone, reigning with our God for a thousand years, is worth all of the strife of this world. What can compare on this earth to reigning with the LORD Jesus Christ Himself for one thousand years? With peace. Security. And no Satan on earth.

Nothing in this life could compare to that great reward, and that reward isn’t even the end of it. There is so much more to come, an eternity with Christ. An eternity of perfection. Where every tear will be wiped away and pain, suffering, and hurt will be no more. Where we will dwell with the LORD God and He will be our God and we will be His people.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Hope In All His Rewards.

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Fire Sacrifice

36 For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work. ~ Leviticus 23:36

It says that for seven days you shall present food offerings to the LORD. Here’s the thing though, that’s not what the original Hebrew says. When you go to the original Hebrew the words “food offerings” isn’t actually written, it was added in for “clarity.” But instead of adding clarity it actually changes the meaning of the verse. See, they knew Numbers 29:12-34 says in great detail the different sacrifices for each day, which they equated to being food offerings. The Hebrew word there is actually ‘iššeh which literally means “a fire offering” or “that which is burned.” Why does that change the meaning of the verse?

Because it’s an offering brought forth by fire not a food offering that they were commanded to bring to the LORD. Different offerings sacrificed by fire daily. Why does this matter? Because as Christians, we now follow a new and better covenant. The old is the predecessor and it was the physical foundation for a spiritual continuation. No longer do we sacrifice bulls and lambs because Christ has been sacrificed on our behalf as the final sacrifice.

If we read the New Testament we see this fulfilled, for even the Old Testament points to this.

[5] Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; [6] in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. [7] Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” [8] When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), [9] then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. [10] And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:5-10

33 And to love Him [God]  with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Mark 12:33

So, what does that mean for us Christians today?

[10]  According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. [11] For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. [12] Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— [13] each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. [14] If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. [15] If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15

[6] In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, [7] so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:6-7

Our actions, how we live our lives, that is now our offering by fire. We aren’t a did sacrifice. Our actions are not a food sacrifice, but they are an offering treated and brought forth through fire. Why? Because fire purifies. It puts the weight of something to the test. It sees what something is truly made of. That’s why the LORD is a consuming fire. For who can withstand Him and who can stand against His wrath?

Therefore, each day should be a different offering sacrificed by fire to the LORD. A different action and/or act of faith to the LORD. Why? The Fear of Booths was about remembering the importance of putting faith in the LORD and acting on that faith. For faith without actions is dead.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Fire Sacrifice.

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Expose The True Mental Illness

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ~ John 3:19

I recently saw a podcast where the woman said that she believed the one of the worst (if not the worst) mental illness someone can suffer from is religion. She said this because she had just watched a documentary about Ruby Frank who abused her children because she said she believed they were demon-possessed. All I could think was, this is quite an ignorant statement to make. This woman’s issue wasn’t that she was religious or believed in a religion, but that she didn’t know, nor did she take the time to understand the religion she was claiming. On top of that anyone who can abuse and torture their own children is demonized and influenced by evil because they have no true religion. But I digress.

When we remove religion from society, we get societies such as North Korea, China, and Vietnam. Let’s look at the effects of Atheistic Communism in these three nations.

Vietnam according to communistcrimes.org:

The death toll at the hands of the post-war communist regime (1975-1987) is estimated to be approximately 430 000; 65 000-100 000 of those were executed, approximately 1 million sent to concentration camps, of whom 165 000 were killed, approximately 200 000–250 000 boat refugees lost at sea, and in addition to the aforementioned figures the victims of the different conflicts on the Indochina peninsula in the 1980s are added.

That wasn’t a religious attack. That was pure atheist communism that killed hundreds of thousands of people. Not religion, but the lack of it. Pure Godlessness.

China according to communistcrimes.org:

The new Maoist regime established a totalitarian communist system, killing and causing the unnatural deaths of tens of millions. Although the civil war between the communists and the nationalists is thought to have killed 6-10 million, a much larger number of casualties resulted from systematic terror, repressions and social reforms launched in the mid-1940s by the communists. Estimates of the number of victims during 1949-1975 vary and fully reliable figures do not exist. China’s official statistics have not been made available for thorough research. According to an analysis of ten different Western sources, a total of 45-60 million have lost their lives during forced collectivization, purges (2-5 million killed), the Great Leap Forward and the ensuing famine (30-40 million deaths), Cultural Revolution (2-7 million killed), occupation of Tibet (0,6-1 million killed) or died in laogai, the world’s largest network of concentration camps (15-20 million deaths), and because of other repressions.

Millions killed at the hands of the Chinese communist regime.

North Korea according to communistcrimes.org:

Agrarian reform, launched in late 1940s, gained momentum after the war and paved way for collectivization, one-party dictatorship and Stalinist-style repressions and purges. The number of executions is unknown, but the ideology provisions of North Korea’s penal code, witness accounts and initial statistics indicate that about 90 000 may have been killed during the 1958-1960 campaign of terror. During 1948-1987, about 1.6-2 million Koreans perished in government-sanctioned repressions. About 100 000 were killed during purges and at least 400,000, but probably more than 1.5 million died in prison camps.

Prisons and camps are just part of a larger repressive network that includes transit jails for dissidents, correctional labour centres, labour camps and deportation zones where as many as 150 000 – 200 000 people are still being kept in concentration-camp conditions. In those facilities, mortality rate is estimated at 100 per day or 36 500 a year. The UN indicated in 1997 that during a 1990s famine, which the government could have well avoided, more than 10 million suffered from malnutrition and hundreds of thousands starved to death. Other estimates put the death toll at 2 million or more.

In a span of 50 years these three atheistic communist societies tortured and killed more people because of their atheistic beliefs than all the tortured and deaths caused by all the religions of the world put together. Let that sink in. That’s not even including the 62 million killed under Stalin in the Soviet Union or Pol Pot in Cambodia.

Torture. Murder. The dehumanizing of humanity isn’t a character trait of religion, especially not the character trait of Christianity that this woman so strongly despises without cause. The reason she can demonize religion so freely without fear of repercussions is because she lives in a Christian nation. Because our founding fathers’ beliefs were grounded in Christianity they emphatically proclaimed:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That is our Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson and is the foundation of our very country. Religion isn’t a mental illness, nor is it the worst or most dangerous. In fact, I would say the denial of religion is. It is the complete and under removal of God that causes the most deaths. Why? Because if we remove God, we remove creation. If all men are not created equally, then we no longer have to see each human as equal, but we can dehumanize people based on our own ideas, feelings, and opinions. We can create our own truth and live in a world that calls right wrong and wrong right. That confuses good and evil. It is Godless societies that cause the most destruction and evil, yet it’s religion, namely Christianity, that is hated, demeaned, and attacked.

This is nothing new though. Darkness hates Light. It is the Light that the darkness hates because when you shine light into the darkness you expose all that the darkness was hiding. It forces you to face the reality of your sin. The reality of the darkness within yourself. It forces you to die to self and live to Christ, but our flesh hates this. It wants to dwell in darkness where it is comfortable. So, it attacks the Light in hopes of self-preservation. The idea that something that has caused the most evil is the right path to take and the one that has contributed the most good is evil is a mental illness, and the most dangerous one at that.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Expose The True Mental Illness.

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Don’t Waste Your Energy

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:8-10

Something I learned a few years ago and have been putting into practice lately is not to waste my energy on people who don’t deserve it. It sounds cold and heartless, but here’s what I mean. People will take advantage of you, use you, pretend to be your friend, and even tell you how much they love you, but then throw you away without a second thought. For no reason at all. These kinds of people don’t deserve the energy and time it takes to mourn the loss of them from your life. People who don’t care about you should never consume your life to the point where their rejection causes you to lose your joy, laughter, and enjoyment of life.

Put your energy into people who genuinely love you. Does that mean you abandon people who do not love you? No. Absolutely not. You always help those in need, whether they love you or not. Whether they hate you or not. Whether they curse you, say all manner of evil about you, and lie about you to others. It doesn’t matter how they treat you; you are to help them if they ask and you are able to.

We don’t return railing for railing. Wrath for wrath. Hate for hate, but neither do we allow people’s opinions of us to bring us down. Their treatment of us to steal our joy. Or their lies about us to consume our thoughts. How the world treats you is no different than how the world has always treated the people of God. With hatred for those who are of the world hate the Light, and the Light now abides in us and shines through us. So, it hates us. It speaks all manner of evil against us, but we will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. We love, even though they may hate us. That is the difference between us and them. We love at all times.

43 You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:43-45)

Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. (1 Peter 3:9)

We just don’t allow ourselves to be hurt, damaged, or destroyed because of them.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Waste Your Energy On Them.

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Decide Which Treasure You Want

[19]  Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, [20] but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. [21] For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ~ Matthew 6:19-21

Recently saw an interview with an older gentleman who explained that back in the day, when he would get a paycheck, he’d pay rent 6 or more months in advance. Why? Just in case if he couldn’t book the same amount of jobs, and his money was low, he at least had a place to sleep. He wasn’t looking to spend his money on frivolous things, but on the essentials. He was looking ahead in life, making sure he always had a place to stay.

We are told to live like this man. To live with our eyes focused on storing up treasure in heaven so that we might have a home for us in eternity. Jesus tells us that how we spend our time on this earth will determine where we spend eternity. If we spend our lives storing up pointless treasures on this earth that we cannot take with us, then we will miss out on eternity with Christ. But when we spend our lives on this earth building up treasure in heaven, then we will spend eternity with Christ.

It’s about our heart. It’s about our desires and what is important to us. When our focus is eternity, we build the Kingdom of God. We win souls. We disciple souls. We make sure our loved ones know about Christ, that they’re ready. We spend time with Christ. We worship. We pray. We read our Bibles. We change. We become more Christ-like and put the things of God above the things of this world.

The Egyptians buried their Pharaohs with their treasures, even mummifying their animals in hopes of them being able to take their earthly treasures with them to the afterlife. But here’s the thing, these temporary treasures will never last. This world and this earth will pass away. If our main goal is money, we will perish with our money. If our main goal is Christ, we will live with Him forever and ever.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Decide Which Treasure You Want.

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An Endurance Race

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, ~ 2 Peter 1:3

Everyone who has accepted Jesus as LORD and Savior has been given a certificate of adoption that will be cashed in at the final trumpet when the dead in Christ will rise first, and those of us who are alive and remain are caught up to meet them in the clouds to be with Jesus.

It’s the Second Coming. We have all the privileges of sonship. We have all the privileges of being heirs and joint heirs with our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ. We have the keys to the kingdom. There is absolutely nothing that our God withholds from us. We are His children.

We do not have our full adoption as yet. We enjoy all the privileges … we enjoy all the rights that come with adoption. We call God our Father, and Jesus our LORD. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. We walk in miracles. We perform signs and wonders. We are healed in Jesus’ Name. Our adoption, however, is not yet legally finalized. We are still working out our salvation with much fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12b).

Therefore, do not take advantage of the Spirit of Grace, but instead earnestly seek the face of the LORD. Don’t take your salvation for granted. It is not yet yours forever, it can still be freely given up by you. So, don’t take it for granted. Don’t feel as if you cannot be cut off, for if He did not spare the natural branches, why would He spare those of us who have been grafted in.

Dear LORD, please help me to seek You even more so as that day draws nearer and nearer. Please turn my heart of stone to a heart of flesh that I might not sin against You. That I might not throw away my salvation for temporary failing desires of the flesh. Encourage my heart and let my spirit not grow faint within in me. Help me to run the race set before me with endurance and faith. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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