(based on 1 Timothy 2:1-4)

Almighty God, we entreat you to protect, and shelter Barack Obama from the schemes of the enemy and against the agendas that are trying to influence him. We intercede on his behalf – Lord save him, deliver him from any demonic spirits or strongholds, please have mercy on him, reveal Yourself to him in a fresh way, and fill him to overflowing with Your Holy Spirit. We pray that you extend an abundance of wisdom to him – fill him with the strength and knowledge to do Your will. Lord God, please reveal to him how destructive abortions are to individuals and our nation as a whole. Please show him how important a biblical definition of marriage is to the health of individuals and families, and to the health of our nation. Please reveal Your perfect will to him in every area of society and government and give him the strength to make the changes you desire. We give You thanks for Barack Obama’s life, thank you for blessing him with a loving family, thank you for all the education, experiences, and provisions You have given to him throughout the years.

We pray these things so that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness in America. Lord God, please restore an abundance of provision and freedom to America, so that we can preach Your good news to every creature without hindrance. We know it is Your Will that all men be saved, so we ask now that you pour out Your Spirit in our country and equip us to go wherever we need to go and say whatever we need to say for all men to come to know You as Lord and Savior.

Awaken us once more – Lord please, send revival!

Join us in praying for Revival >> United Prayer

1792-1800

In New England, there was a man of prayer named Isaac Backus, a Baptist pastor, who in 1794, when conditions were at their worst, addressed an urgent plea for prayer for revival to pastors of every Christian denomination in the United States…

Out of that second great awakening, came the whole modern missionary movement and it’s societies. Out of it came the abolition of slavery, popular education, Bible Societies, Sunday Schools, and many social benefits accompanying the evangelistic drive…

1858-1860

In September 1857, a man of prayer, Jeremiah Lanphier, started a businessmen’s prayer meeting… In February and March of 1858, every church and public hall in down town New York was filled… Then a landslide of prayer began, which overflowed to the churches in the evenings. People began to be converted, ten thousand a week in New York City alone…More than a million people were converted to God in one year out of a population of thirty million.

1904-1905

Most people have heard of the Welsh Revival which started in 1904. It began as a movement of prayer…

The movement went like a tidal wave over Wales, in five months there being a hundred thousand people converted throughout the country…

The social impact was astounding. For example, judges were presented with white gloves, not a case to try; no robberies, no burglaries, no rapes, no murders, and no embezzlements, nothing. District councils held emergency meetings to discuss what to do with the police now that they were unemployed…

The revival swept Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, North America, Australasia, Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Chile.

In the revival of 1905…the ministers of Atlantic City reported that of a population of fifty thousand there were only fifty adults left unconverted.

As always, it began through a movement of prayer…

…What do we mean by extraordinary prayer?

We share ordinary prayer in regular worship services, before meals, and the like, but when people are found getting up at six in the morning to pray, or having a half night of prayer until midnight, or giving up their lunch time to pray at noonday prayer meetings, that is extraordinary prayer. It must be united and concerted.”

- Excerpts taken from various writings of Dr J. Edwin Orr

http://www.pastornet.net.au/renewal/journal1/orr.html

#1 Please share this with every Christian you know

#2 If you have a hunger for historic revival – please visit UnitedPrayer.US

Well, that is not entirely true, in fact, that is not even remotely true. The Mormon church is a separate religion, completely separate from Christianity. The foundation of any religion is who or what is worshiped and followed as ‘God’. Christianity believes in one God in three persons who always existed in the same three persons. Mormonism believes in 3 separate gods, 2 of whom are flesh and bones, and one which is spirit. They believe that two of the gods, the ‘father’, and the ‘son’ were at one time in the past human beings, just as we are today.

Another major separator of different religions is what happens to a person after they die. Christianity believes that there is one literal heaven and one literal hell and the only path to heaven is to believe in the atoning work of Jesus Christ and receive his salvation by faith while we are alive here on earth. Mormonism believes in 3 separate “heavens” and the way to get to each one is based on how many good works are done and how closely the doctrines of the Mormon religion are followed. They also believe that in the highest of the three heavens, we actually become a god.

Here are just a few quotes from some of the Mormon scriptures which are completely against the teachings of the Christian scriptures;

“God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret….”

Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, by Joseph Smith, April 7, 1844, p. 345-346

“The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.”

Doctrine and Covenants 130:22

“Every person who was ever born on earth was our spirit brother or sister in heaven. The first spirit born to our heavenly parents was Jesus Christ…so he is literally our elder brother…. We needed a Savior to pay for our sins and teach us how to return to our Heavenly Father. Our Father said, “Whom shall I send?” … Two of our brothers offered to help. Our oldest brother, Jesus Christ, who was then called Jehovah, said “Here am I, send me”…. Satan, who was called Lucifer, also came, saying, “Behold, here am I, send me.” … After hearing both sons speak, Heavenly Father said, “I will send the first.” … Because our Heavenly Father chose Jesus Christ to be our Savior, Satan became angry and rebelled.”

Gospel Principles, p. 11, 17, 18

“The Latter-day Saints believe in the efficacy of the blood of Christ. They believe that through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel they obtain a remission of sins; but this could not be if Christ had not died for them. … Are you aware that there are certain sins that man may commit for which the atoning blood of Christ does not avail? …

But man may commit certain grievous sins – according to his light and knowledge – that will place him beyond the reach of the atoning blood of Christ. If then he would be saved he must make sacrifice of his own life to atone – so far as in his power lies – for that sin, for the blood of Christ alone under certain circumstances will not avail.”

Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.1, p. 133-134:

Thankfully, this time, I turned to Jesus – I cried out to him for help, I stood on the testimonies of my life and on the promises of His word, I declared that the power of the enemy over my life was BROKEN. I declared freedom, provision, and abundance in Jesus name!

I came back to my computer to find a $100 donation sitting in my inbox. That’s a long way from me getting out of my current situation, but I fully believe it was an answer from God to say that, “you turned to Me in your desperation, I heard your cries, and yes, I will help you”.

God’s one desire is a deeper relationship with His children – turn to Him – always.

Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 2 He did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.

3 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. 4 He brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them into the square on the east.

5 Then he said to them, “Listen to me, O Levites. Consecrate yourselves now, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry the uncleanness out from the holy place. 6 For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done evil in the sight of the Lord our God, and have forsaken Him and turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord, and have [a]turned their backs. 7 They have also shut the doors of the porch and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. 8 Therefore the wrath of the Lord was against Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, of horror, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes. 9 For behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. 10 Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His burning anger may turn away from us. 11 My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before Him, to minister to Him, and to be His ministers and burn incense.”

As I read this story, I am reminded of all the seasons in my life where left my bible closed, stopped making time to pray, and went about my days with no guidance from the Lord – we all have the same human nature as the Israelites did, but I’m so thankful that the Lord has been merciful to me – every time I’ve turned my back on Him, He’s always drawn me back.

It seems that the prior generations of Hezekiah didn’t accept this mercy, they made the conscious choice to continue to reject the Lord, even after He extended mercy upon mercy, grace upon grace – they still said no. Verses 6-7 of chapter 10 make it painfully clear that that generation of Israelites not only did evil before the Lord, they turned their backs from His presence, and walked away for good. So what’s the result? What happens when we decide to not only sin against the Lord, but permanently walk away from His presence and reject His offerings of mercy? Verses 8-9 give a fairly graphic picture of what will happen – wrath, terror, hissing, captivity, and death. These were the same Israelites that God had hand-picked to be His holy people.

Deuteronomy 6 tells us that our God is a jealous God, and if you turn to other gods, the Lord will “wipe you off the face of the earth.” In the New Testament, we see many passages which talk about what will happen to the people of God if they reject the Lord. Romans 11 talks about gentiles being grafted into the family of God, then verse 22 specifically states that if they do not continue in the kindness of God, they will be “cut off”. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul starts the chapter by telling the Corinthians to stand on and “hold fast” the gospel message, if not they will have “believed in vain”. Colossians 1:21-23 states that we have been reconciled to God, provided we continue in the faith and don’t shift from the hope of the Gospel. 1 Timothy 1 talks about two men in particular who were “shipwrecked” in their faith and who were “handed over to Satan”. In 1 Timothy 5, Paul sais that anyone who doesn’t provide for their family, has “disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever”. 2 Timothy 2:12 sais very plainly, “…If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us…”. Hebrews 6:4-6 presents one of harshest words to those who might reject the Lord, telling us that it is “…impossible to restore again to repentance…”, those who were once enlightened and filled with the Holy Spirit, and later committed “apostasy”. Most books of the new testament in fact, teach about what will happen if we reject the Lord (Matthew 6, 10, 12, 13, 18, 24, 25, Mark 4, 9, 11, 13, Luke 8, 12, John 6, 12, 15, 17, Acts 20, Galatians 1, 4, 5, 6, Ephesians 5, Philippians 2, 3, Titus 3, Hebrews 2, 3, 4, 10, 12, James 1, 2, 4, 5, 1 Peter 1, 3, 5, 2 Peter 1, 2, 3, 1-3 John, Jude, Revelation 2, 3, 16, 21, and 22) – http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/lose.html

So what does this all mean for the New Testament believer in light of 2 Chronicles 29:7? If we accept the saving message of the gospel, then sin, do we lose our salvation? It’s not that simple. In John 10:28, we are told that we are given eternal life, and no one can take this from us. In Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us that by grace, we are saved though faith – it’s a gift from our great Father in Heaven. Romans 10:9 tells us that if we confess Jesus as Lord, and believe God rose Him from the dead – we will be saved (a promise).

My opinion? I think we can never lose our salvation, but if we continually turn our backs on God, continually reject his grace, continue in a life of sin, and eventually deny the Holy Spirit – we will be damned to Hell. I know that isn’t logical, but I don’t think it’s supposed to be, I think God wants us to pursue his heart above all else, every moment of every day. I think we should leave the “assurance of our salvation” up to the Holy Spirit, speaking to each one of us personally.

From the example of 2 Chronicles 29:7, we can see that even after the people of God committed the ultimate sin of perpetual disobedience, leading the complete rejection of God’s presence and love, there still remained a hope for redemption. Hezekiah’s desire was to return once again to the Lord, and to remove God’s burning anger from His people. God’s people once again consecrated themselves before Him, and God once again forgave their sins and renewed His covenant promises with them. This beautiful picture teaches that even if you have completely turned your back on God, there remains a hope for redemption, right now, as you read this, turn your heart back to God – consecrate your life and cry out to your God to re-establish himself as Lord of your life, He will hear your cries and He will flood your life with grace and love.

This past week I acted like a straight up child – I wanted it my way, I wanted what I thought was best for me, and I demanded it because I somehow thought I deserved it. This did not result in me getting what I was whining for, but rather, led me into sin, frustration, depression, and stress.
This morning I flipped my bible open to Psalm 123 and it broke me – I am not in a position to demand anything from God, I am an undeserving servant, saved only by grace and love – not by works, lest I should ever dare boast. I am a humble servant of the almighty, all powerful, all knowing creator of the universe – the same God that spoke the world into existence and breathed life into the first man and woman – and sent his only Son to suffer and die for a world that had turned their back on Him. I was crying out to God to take away the sin and pain, while at the same time, holding a deep grudge toward him for not giving me what I wanted – I was so selfish and prideful.

It may just be me, but I am realizing more and more how off base our “system” of Christianity is, especially when it comes to our Sunday morning services.

Here are some of the primary scriptures about what the new testament church should look like….

Acts 2:⁴⁶ Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread ^[as]from house to house, they were taking their ^[at]meals together with gladness and ^[au]sincerity of heart,⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding ^[av]to their number day by day those who were being saved.

1 Tim. 4:¹³ Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. ¹⁴ Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the ^[f]presbytery.

Ephesians 5:²³ For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church

1 Thess. 5:¹⁶ Rejoice always; ¹⁷ pray without ceasing; ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. ¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit; ²⁰ do not despise prophetic ^[l]utterances.

Acts 13:² While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

Acts 20:^{17 “}…called to him the elders of the church… ²⁸ Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you ^[q]overseers, to shepherd the church of God…”

Yesterday I believe God gave me a vision of what the new church structure (the biblical church of the first century) might look like once historic revival sweeps the global Church in the coming months…

Anywhere from 5-50 Christians together in a room, maybe Sunday morning, maybe Tuesday night, maybe Thursday afternoon, maybe all of the above. They, together in one spirit, ask Jesus to speak to them. They begin to sing a song of praise, then someone begins to pray, someone else begins to sing another song, everyone joins in. One of the God-confirmed prophets begins to declare what God has for the coming month, then someone else cries out a prayer. The God-confirmed teacher begins to give a 10 minute teaching on the prophet Joel. Several minutes later, the evangelist brings in a new-born Christian from the streets, they baptize him in water, then the whole assembly lays their hands on him and prays for him. Some more singing, praying, and teaching, then they all eat together.

This is all repeated (in varying order, length of time, and locations) several times throughout the week.

The meetings are organized and directed by Jesus and the Holy Spirit – freedom reigns as the Spirit of the Lord presides.

I’ve been going through some deep spiritual attacks the past few weeks – thinking about all the things I don’t have. Letting my mountain of debt worry me, letting my commission-only job worry me, letting my singleness depress me….

Even as I type I am struck by how much these things are all my choice, I am letting these things consume me. I am letting the enemy have control of my mind and it is destroying me. So what’s the answer? How do we overcome the enemy?

Easier said than done, but the solution is clear – CHOOSE to set your mind on the things above, not on your short comings – every struggle in this life is temporary – EVERY ONE

Colossians 3 - Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is,seated at the right hand of God. ^2 [a] Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. ³ For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

I was sitting outside eating some Subway (6″ Meatball) and I was watching a yard worker, looked at the hedges he was trimming, and thought to myself how few people actually ever saw those hedges. Is his time really being used wisely? Who pays him, is he doing what God wants?

Random thought, I know, but the question that was really burning in my mind was, did God want him to be trimming those hedges at that time? I think that is the question we need to be asking God every moment of every day.

How do we reconcile the following passages about hard work; 

Proverbs 13:4  - The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, But the soul of the diligent is made fat.

2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 - If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

Proverbs 12:24 The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.

With these passages about rest; 

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Hebrews 4:9-11 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

It seems that the predominant preaching in most churches today leans more toward rest than hard work. A couple pastors answered us when we posted the question Twitter of more work or more rest, and here is their responses;

@hartramsey - ”He’s calling us to rest in what He’s finished b4 we work.”

- Hart Ramsey, Senior Pastor, Northview Christian Church in Montgomery, Alabama

@Pastor_Jjo - “Neither more or less. The work is done, we rest in that!”

- Jason D. Jordan, Senior Pastor of Love of Christ Fellowship Center in St. Thomas

Obviously there must be a balance between work and rest, and perhaps the answer is that simple, yet it also seems most Christians today (especially those who are struggling financially), have a very hard time with overworking and stress.

What are your thoughts?

When it comes to the needy; hand-outs lead to enabling, self-sacrifice leads to life transformation. I will be the first to admit, I have been guilty of enabling countless times. Amy Lambert, however, bought a homeless man a steak dinner, took him to her house to give him a shower, cut his finger nails and toe nails, told him the saving message of the gospel, took him to walmart to buy him a new wardrobe, drove him 2 hours away to a recovery center, called him regularly over two months, drove another 2 hours back to pick him up, threw a party for him, and found him a job and a place to live. I am so humbled to have witnessed such self sacrifice, and my life will never be the same after seeing the life of a homeless man, who was literally on the brink of death, and an alcoholic for over 30 years, truly truly changed forever.