To the watching world, Americans hold God’s name in contempt. Our official motto, “In God We Trust,” testifies of a piety we no longer practice. When God looks for faith, what will he find? Secularism, a strange god of lifeless lips and unkept promises, expedited the collapse of the vision and mission of America’s Christian Founders.

God now calls out, “Come let us reason together,” moving us to think about our past, present and future. How did we, a nation founded “For the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith,” arrive at this moment?

Certainly God does not need an entourage of supporters, carrying Him around shouting, “You da champ, You da champ,” in order for Him to deliver a knock-out blow to secularism. He will act decisively and in a timely fashion, but “timely” is a matter of His own wisdom and plans.

As one Bible teacher puts it: “If any carrying is to be done, He will carry us. Many think it’s useful to have God on their side. In a way they want to honor God. They will go to church. They will say prayers. They will ask a pastor to bless a marriage or their home. The kind of God they want is simply a God who will help them get their own way and win their own battles. They want God to be a servant to help them get things done, but at the same time they want to have their own views and live their own lives.”(*)

Because Christians refuse to submit to His lordship, God appears to be losing in America.

“He is waiting for us to be holy as He is holy (1 Pet. 1:16). So instead of blaming the church for being anemic, lethargic and irrelevant, perhaps we should blame ourselves.” (**)

Unfortunately, in American Christianity, “We want our God to be casual and easygoing. He is ‘the man upstairs’ rather than the Lord of Hosts, chummy rather than holy. We want God to be the co-pilot, and we get worried when He wants to fly the plane. But God wants us to bow before His holiness with respect and reverence. God’s power deserves our great awe. There is a danger in being in the presence of the Lord of Hosts, especially when we come into His presence with arrogance or apathy. We must come before His presence with quiet humility and brokenness.” (***)

Certainly, “arrogance” describes our coming into God’s presence with this false notion of American Exceptionalism. Our nation has never been “exceptional” in and of itself. All blessing flow from God alone, the One who Daniel described as: “It is He who changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who know understanding” (Dan. 2:21). And we should note, Daniel wrote those words as an exile during the Babylonian captivity, a time when God allowed His people to be ripped from their homeland for 70 years. Tough times call for greater faith in God, not nationalistic sloganeering.

The wonder of biblical Christianity is that God can be known personally. The essence of biblical faith is to believe in the One who identifies as: “I AM, the only self-existent, noncontingent being in the universe.”(****) When we find Him, then we find the meaning of life; government cannot satisfy.

And He promises to deliver us from our enemies. Yes, secularism is our enemy, but we can be thankful His Word guarantees, “Certainly, the hand of the Lord is not so short that it cannot save, nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear” (Is. 59:1). Our rallying cry to restore America to her Judeo-Christian heritage and re-establish a biblically based culture is not hopeless.

Since God promises that His arm is not too short to save, what could be possibly holding up His deliverance from pagan secularism in America? Why are Christians powerless in the civil government arena? It has to be that His “promises are being prevented from being kept by one thing only: flagrant sin.”(*****)

Franklin Graham wrote a powerful reminder of the power of God over all earthly kingdoms and rulers. Do we still believe this theology? We should. No, we must.

“2500 years ago Iraq was in the ‘headlines.’ It was known as the Babylonian empire and had the largest military in the world at that time. Its king, Belshazzar, was having a big party drinking and boasting [about Babylonian Exceptionalism] with his wives, his mistresses, and his nobles. While they were partying, the hand of God appeared and wrote a message on the wall, terrifying everyone including King Belshazzar. His face grew pale and his knees went weak. Daniel is called in to interpret the handwriting which says three things: ‘Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

Daniel warns Belshazzar that he is guilty of worshiping false gods. He said, “you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life” (Daniel 5:23). That very night the king was slain and the kingdom was lost to their enemies.”

What’s the writing on the wall for America? As a nation we are found lacking because of sin and disobedience to God’s Holy Word. We have not honored Him. If we don’t turn back to God, I fear that our end will be near.” (******)

What must we do? Our shepherds must re-establish the Word in the pulpits. Then they will put in motion the Word to advance from the pulpit, to the pews and to the public square.

Here’s a promise for those willing to stand, “For the eyes of the Lord move about on all the earth to strengthen the heart that is completely toward Him” (2 Chr. 16:9).

Two examples should suffice.

EXHIBIT #1: The Idaho legislature and the Hollister, Missouri, students are leading the way!

Idaho Legislature Passes Bill Allowing Bible in Public Schools

EXHIBIT #2: See the Bold Way Public School Students Are Reacting to Atheists’ Demand That a Pastor Stop Leading Lunchtime Prayers

We simply need a Gideon or Rahab to stand. {eoa}

*Keith Krell, 1 Samuel

** Ibid.

***Stephen Andrews and Robert Bergen, 1 & 2 Samuel, p. 54

**** John N. Oswalt, Isaiah Commentary

****** John N. Oswalt

******Franklin Graham:

While having my devotions the other morning, I was reading in Matthew about the torture and death of Jesus. I finished reading, then started into my customary time of prayer when I realized something that gave me pause. I had just read about the most heroic, horrific, and important death in the history of humanity, and I did so in as casual a way as if I were reading the sports section of the newspaper. Immediately after this realization, I began to feel guilty that I no longer had the visceral reaction to this sacrifice that I am probably supposed to have. But that guilt was quickly followed by an honest truth: How can I conjure up a feeling for something I am so familiar with?

When you’ve spent an enormous part of your life in church and reading the Bible, much of it starts to take on what I like to call the “sheen of inevitability.” The first time you encounter many of the stories and characters of the Bible it is all so exciting and inspiring and impactful. But then, as you spend years reading and hearing about those same things, it is only natural for what once impacted you so greatly to take on a kind of “ho hum” quality. We skim over Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son, forgetting the horror of what God asked him to do. We fly through David’s lamenting for his newborn son’s life, knowing that his death rests firmly on David’s shoulders for his sin with Bathsheba. We casually sip our coffee as we read about Jesus being tortured to death so we could experience a grace we don’t deserve.

Lately I’ve been pondering the whole notion of abiding in Christ. Jesus seemed to put a huge emphasis on us abiding in Him, and I wonder if this somehow holds the key to keeping our relationship with both Him and His Word fresh and vibrant. Typically in my life, when I have experienced this lack of freshness to the Scriptures, it has come at a time when I was simply going through the motions of Christianity. If God’s Word doesn’t quicken something within me, chances are I have slipped into the drudgery of following a religion as opposed to having a relationship with my King.

At the same time, when I think of my most powerful moments with God and His Word, it has typically come at a point where I was in greatest need of Him, of His deliverance and of His peace in my life. I approached the Scriptures as a drowning man, not as a man sipping tea on a yacht. But of course, life is made up of an ebb and flow of storms and calm winds, choppy seas and beautiful sunsets on glassy water. Are we then doomed to only finding true fullness in the Bible when things are bad in our lives? I don’t think so. I think Jesus gave us the escape route to the religious doldrums.

“Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, neither can you, unless you remain in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who remains in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For without Me you can do nothing. If a man does not remain in Me, he is thrown out as a branch and withers. And they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:4-7).

My backyard is a forest. It is filled with trees of all shapes and sizes, and together they are beautiful. It is my happy place. But if you look closely, you’ll see that not all of the trees are healthy and thriving. Some are flourishing, some have random branches that no longer bear leaves, and some are dead. They still stand there, reaching to the heavens; they still look and feel like trees, but when summer comes and the trees around them bear much fruit, those trees stand out as an eyesore. And they need to be cut down.

In the same way, God has made it clear that His church is His happy place. But He has also made it clear that He wants us to bear much fruit, and if we don’t then we’re simply dead men walking, and for the health of others within God’s forest, we need to be cut down. I have no idea what the equivalent of this is in the spiritual realm, but I do know that I don’t care to find out in my own life! I want to be a tree that is always vibrant, always flourishing and always a pleasure for my Father to look upon. And when I start to feel like my branches are no longer bearing fruit, when I find myself sleep walking through religious exercises, that’s when I know that I have stopped abiding in the true vine.

The reason our darker moments are so potent for rebuilding our relationship with God is because that is when we are at our most raw, and therefore fully cognizant that we are fairly powerless, feeble people in desperate need of a savior, a friend and a Father to help and protect us. But then His help comes, and we fall back into our routines and grow comfortable that we’re doing a really good job with this whole life thing. Meanwhile, in the distance, another storm is brewing that will eventually throw us overboard and cause us to cry out yet again for help.

But what if instead of basking on our boat in times of plenty and falling out of the boat in times of struggle, there were a third alternative? What if there was a place we could live at all times, through the calm and the storm? What if that place is the place Jesus has been calling us to all along? He modeled it already to the man upon whom He decided to build his church, Peter, when he called to him from the raging seas. What if our natural place should always be outside of the boat and on top of the water?

Peter modeled in a moment where Jesus wants us to live our whole lives. For a few moments, Peter walked on water. He was no longer in the safety of the boat, but he also wasn’t drowning in the water. He was abiding in Jesus. As long as he kept his eyes, his mind, and his spirit on Jesus, he remained in a place of risky safety. As soon as he stopped abiding, he began to sink and required a touch from Jesus to pull him back out of it. And Jesus’ response wasn’t a pat on the back that Peter had done something amazing for a few seconds. Jesus was actually frustrated with Peter! “Oh you of little faith,” he admonished, “why did you doubt?” (Matt. 14:31)

To anyone else of us in the world, walking on water for a few seconds would constitute the highlight of our lives in Christ. But Jesus seems to imply that this is where he expects us to live, even going so far as to say Peter’s faith was weak. I wonder how often He gets gently frustrated with us as we climb in and out of our boat, sopping wet or smugly content, when the whole time we’re missing the entire point of this life of faith. Jesus wants us to walk on water with Him. He wants us to live a life of faith with Him. But ultimately, He wants us to abide in Him. It’s His happy place, and it is meant to be ours as well.

The violent Islamic intolerance of the “infidel” is clearly reflected in the highly ignored and misrepresented persecution and expulsion of 820,000 Jewish refugees from Arab lands, exceeding the scope of Palestinian-Arab refugees. This expulsion occurred well before the 1948-1949 War of Independence, and persisted following the war.

On Feb. 19, 1947, Syria’s U.N. representative, Faris al-Khuri, told the New York Times: “Unless the Palestine problem is settled [with no Jewish state], we shall have difficulty in protecting Jews in the Arab world.”

On Nov. 14, 1947, before the war, Egyptian Ambassador to the U.N. Heykal Pasha warned: “The partitioning of Palestine shall be responsible for the massacre of a large number of Jews. … It might endanger a million Jews living in Muslim countries … [and] create an anti-Semitism more difficult to root out than the anti-Semitism which the allies were trying to eradicate in Germany.”

Before the November 1947 U.N. vote on the Partition Plan, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Said shared with Alec Kirkbride, the British Ambassador to Jordan, his plan to expel Jews from Iraq and threatened: “Severe measures would be taken against all Jews in Arab countries.”

On Nov. 28, 1947, Iraq’s foreign minister told the U.N. General Assembly that “the partitioning of Palestine will cause the uprising of the Arabs of Palestine, and the masses in the Arab world will not be restrained.”

Even earlier, on March 1, 1944, Haj Amin al-Husseini, the top Palestinian Arab leader at the time, incited in an Arabic broadcast from Nazi Germany: “Kill the Jews wherever you find them. It would please God, history and religion.”

Jamal Al-Husseini, then the acting chairman of the Palestinian Arab Higher Command, threatened: “Palestine shall be consumed with fire and blood if the Jews get any part of it.”

The CIA assessed that “a second Jewish Holocaust in less than 10 years” would be the response to the establishment of a Jewish state.

In fact, 820,000 Jews were expelled from Arab lands, before and after the 1948-1949 War of Independence. They were robbed of billions of dollars’ worth of property, and Arab masses lynched, raped and looted Jewish communities.

Some 240,000 Jews were expelled from Morocco, 140,000 from Algeria, 105,000 from Tunisia, 38,000 from Libya, 70,000 from Egypt, 5,000 from Lebanon, 25,000 from Syria, 135,000 from Iraq, 55,000 from North Yemen and 8,000 from South Yemen.

Unlike the well-documented 320,000 Arab refugees of the 1948-1949 war, the Jewish refugees did not engage in subversion and terrorism against their host countries, did not join invading military forces that sought to destroy their host countries and did not collaborate with Nazi Germany.

Unlike the 320,000 Arab refugees—most of whom had roots no further back than 20 to 200 years—the Jewish refugees had roots that preceded the appearance of Islam: 2,500-year-old roots in Iraq, 500 to 2,000 years in Syria and North Africa, 2,000 to 3,500 years in Yemen. Unlike the Arab refugees, who were accorded a perpetual refugee status, uniquely inherited by their descendants, the Jewish refugees were fully absorbed into their new homes (600,000 in Israel). None of the Jewish refugees, nor their descendants, retained refugee status.

The persecution of Jews in Arab lands had not ceased since the rise of Muhammad who, in A.D. 626, enslaved, expelled or beheaded the three leading Jewish tribes of the Arabian Peninsula, Quraish, Nadir and Qaynuka—who had provided him with refuge in Medina when he fled Mecca—for refusing to accept Islam. The genocide is described by Egyptian writer Husayn Haykal in “The Life of Muhammad,” and is mentioned briefly in the Quran in Surah 33:26.

Moreover, the yellow patch adopted by the Nazis actually originated in Arab lands, where Jews and other “infidels” were forced to wear a “yellow badge of shame” (Christians were assigned pink badges), as well as yellow belts, honey-colored hoods, and yellow headgear. They were also compelled to pay an “infidel tax” (“jizyya,” as per the Quran, Surah 9:29), prohibited from building tall homes and testifying against “believers” and were forced to place “infidel” signs on their homes.

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, authored in 1903 by Russian anti-Semites and widely employed in Nazi Germany to legitimize the extermination of Jews, continues to be a best-seller on the Arab street. The Nazi propaganda machine was introduced into school curricula, intensifying Islamic anti-Semitism.

Thus, in December 1947, Arabs murdered, looted and expelled Syrian and Yemenite Jews, burning synagogues, Jewish schools and shops. In 1936, Jews were terrorized and murdered in Baghdad. In June 1941, the pro-Nazi “Farhud” (“Pogrom”) was perpetrated against Baghdad’s Jewish community, murdering 180 Jews and destroying their homes. In 1947, Jews were hanged, raped, imprisoned, fired from civil service, accused of poisoning Iraq’s water and poisoning children’s sweets. In 1945, Arab mobs raped, looted and murdered Jews in Egypt and Libya.

While the U.N.—the most effective platform for anti-Western and human-rights abusing rogue regimes and their Western appeasers—has passed 130 resolutions on the 320,000 Palestinian Arab refugees, not a single resolution has been passed concerning the 820,000 Jewish refugees from Arab lands.

No U.N. resolution was passed on the lethal abuses of Christians, Jews and other non-Muslim minorities by Muslim regimes, which has been the most authentic reflection of Islam’s cardinal strategic goal: the submission of the “house of the infidel” to the “house of the believer.”

For the original article, visit .

The body of Christ, the nations of the Earth and the United States of America are currently at a tipping point. This is a strategic time when the scales of justice shift from one direction or point of view to another.

At these critical moments, things change in a society or nation for good or for evil. One thing is for sure; they never remain the same.

What determines the outcome? Who decides? Can we actually have an impact? Scripture is clear about the power of a compassionate heart that sows in intercession and tears. By softening our hearts and crying out to God together for mercy, we can tip the scales to bring forth the rain of awakening upon the Earth.

The Scales of Justice

Over the years, the scales of justice have been used to symbolize the balance between truth and fairness sought after in the judicial system. These scales of justice are a universal symbol of the ideals aspired to in the legal system. They remind attorneys, judges and juries of the sobering task before them.

Each side of the scales represents a divergent view of a case presented before the court. After all the evidence and arguments have been presented by each side, the scales then tip one way or the other determining which side appears to have made the weightier case.

Webster’s Dictionary defines a tipping point as “the critical point in a situation, process or system beyond which a significant and often unstoppable effect or change takes place.” Collins English Dictionary describes it simply as “the crisis stage in a process, when a significant change takes place.”

Wikipedia brings us additional insight. “A tipping point is a point in time when a group—or a large number of group members—rapidly and dramatically changes its behavior by widely adopting a previously rare practice. The phrase was first used in physics, where it referred to the adding a small amount of weight to a balanced object until the additional weight caused the object to suddenly and completely topple, or tip.”

Passionate Prayer Changes Things!

Matthew Henry, an English theologian declared, “When God intends to do great mercy for his people, the first thing He does is to set them a-praying!” S. D. Gordon stated, “Man can do more for God than pray. But you cannot do more for God and man than pray until you have prayed.”

Charles Finney, who was known for his phenomenal evangelistic successes during the Second Great Awakening, had equally phenomenal prayer support by Father Nash behind the scenes. He is quoted as saying, “Revival is no more a miracle than a crop of wheat. Revival comes from heaven when heroic souls enter the conflict determined to win or die—or if need be, to win AND die.”

Isaiah the prophet, battled with an unrepentant and even defiant nation of Israelites, who refused to acknowledge sin or abandon its idols even in the face of defeat, bondage and literal slavery to other nations. Then God issued a challenge to His people through the prophet that reveals the heart of God toward us—even when we are in sin and trying to justify our rebellion.

“Put Me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified” (Is. 43:26 KJV).

“Put Me in remembrance, let us argue our case together; State your cause, that you may be proved right” (Is. 43:26, NASV).

“Oh, remind Me of this promise of forgiveness, for we must talk about your sins. Plead your case for My forgiving you” (Is. 43:26, TLB).

Tears Upon Dry Ground

Recently, I had two experiences that deeply impacted my heart. In a dream, I was standing on dry, parched ground that was longing for moisture and relief. I saw raindrops falling from heaven, and when each drop hit the Earth, I heard a sound. With each drop that fell, I heard the word “Awake.” Another drop came, then another, with the same word “Awake” released upon contact. As the rain continued to increase the sound shifted from “Awake” to “Awaken” and eventually to “Awakening!” Finally the downpour of rain produced a sound of “AWAKENING!”

In the same week I had another heart-wrenching encounter. The presence of the Lord came upon me on a Prayer Teleconference Call and I began to weep. The phone call was over but the weeping presence of the Lord for our nation remained upon me. I continued weeping in my bedroom for 8 hours until 4:00 a.m. Eventually I fell asleep but was awakened by the voice of the Lord at 8:00 a.m. I heard the soothing voice of the Holy Spirit say, “You know what I do with your tears, don’t you? I store them up in my bottles in heaven. When they are full, I then turn them upside down and they become the next raindrops from heaven falling upon parched hearts and dry ground. Your tears become My next outpouring.”

“You take account of my wandering; put my tears in Your bottle; are they not in Your book?” (Ps. 56:8).

How Desperate Are You?

Beloved, God is weeping over the condition of our nations and the hard condition of the heart of the body of Christ. He is travailing through us with tears for our own breakthrough. We know that when we sow in tears, we will reap in joy (Ps. 126:5). This principle applies first to Jesus, and then to every believer who enters into this identification with His heart.

Do you want awakening? Do you want true revival, the restoration of God’s glory? Do you want your family, neighbors and friends to come to Jesus Christ? Do you want a turnaround for this nation? Do you want the body of Christ to have a new heart? How desperate are you?

Try passionate, heartfelt prayer that expresses itself even in tears. Yes, try tears. Drop your defenses and become tenderhearted. Enter into the vulnerability and desperation in your inner being. Grab hold of heaven’s heart and do not let go until the Third Great Awakening is fully released. Let’s lift a united cry until a Global Jesus People Movement is moving from shore to shore.

We are at the crossroads. Which way will the scales tip? Together, we can help determine the outcome! Together, through our collective cries for mercy, we can tip the scales and the rain of revival, restoration and recovery will come pouring forth.

Let’s saturate our prayers and saturate our land with tears. Why? Prayer changes things! {eoa}

For the original article, visit .

Forgiveness is one of the most foundational, yet often under-practiced habits in life. Without forgiveness, we’d never experience intimate relationship with God and healthy relationships with others.

Our health and wholeness depend on our ability to forgive, yet when you look at the landscape of our world, it seems that people all around are manifesting the aftermath of someone not being willing or able to forgive.

For those who know how to forgive every day, they will be the most healthy people to be around. The true peace they carry invades every place they go to. They are great to have relationship with, especially because they don’t keep score. Yet it seems one of the most challenging things for people to do is to live as forgiving vessels.

So why is this happening? I have observed some trends over the years contributing to why we hold something against someone and withhold forgiveness.

1. We don’t think forgiveness is that important. Somewhere along the line, people have bought the lie that they can receive forgiveness from God, but withhold it from others. In today’s world of Christianity, we like to fester in our wounds without considering forgiveness at the soonest possible point. We don’t see it as critical as it should be.

2. We justify it away. It’s so easy to call offense and bitterness something else. Call it irritation or frustration with someone, but we lose sight of what the problem can really be. We get so focused on the drama and details of events that we lose sight of bitterness forming below the surface.

3. We don’t see people with spiritual eyes. Most of the time the biggest problem is that we stop seeing our life and struggles through spiritual eyes. We forget to keep in mind that bitterness and offense are spiritual assaults from the enemy. We do not wrestle against each other, but against spiritual forces that seek to separate and divide relationships. When angry and bitter against someone, how easily we forget that the enemy is pulling those bitter strings. Unless we maintain a spiritual grid of war, we will always keep ourselves focused on the wrong and not on the source of those bitter thoughts and feelings.

4. Our hearts have become numb. There’s nothing worse than someone who has experience hurt after hurt without allowing healing to come into their lives. Many times I’ve worked with people, who if they had learned to practice forgiveness years ago, could have avoided the numbness they are currently struggling with.

Jesus warned us that the love of many will grow cold (Matthew 24) resulting from unresolved relational issues. If we don’t deal with healing the pain in our lives, we can expect that pain to torment us down the road.

An unhealed pain will protect the right to stay bitter and eventually, numbness will set in.

5. No one taught us … I think the biggest reason we struggle to forgive is because we were not taught the importance and we were not taught how to actually process forgiveness. Do you ever remember your parents showing you how to process forgiveness? Did any mentors growing up ever walk you through the mechanics of releasing someone? What about conflict resolution? Aren’t these critical habits to possess?

6. We don’t realize what it means to be forgiven. In the moment when our pain is red hot and our feelings are bitter, we quickly lose sight of what it means to be forgiven by God through Christ.

Many teachers say that forgiveness is free. This is partially true. God’s forgiveness is free, as long as we freely forgive others. When did we make it OK to receive God’s forgiveness while holding others with contempt in our hearts? We’ve been deceived.

7. We spend too much energy defending our case and protecting ourselves. The biggest way an organization can suffer is when people get sidetracked by relational arguments and disputes. Relationships suffer the most when the focus is on hurt and pain. Those who walk into freedom know the wisdom of overlooking an offense. (Proverbs 19:11) Keeping a light load of records helps us to focus on what is healthy for our lives.

When we focus on the hurt, we become trained to feel justified for our hurt. Our discussions involve getting people on our side, rather than healing. Bitterness trains us to get focused on the hurt and protecting ourselves at all costs. So our mission becomes feeling validated in our pain more than really pursuing healing.

I find that too often we put so much energy into not being taken advantage of. When in the Scriptures, Jesus taught us to put that aside. If you get taken advantage of, don’t sweat it. Turn the other cheek. Go the extra mile. Stop sweating what everyone seems to be doing. Keep a low account of negativity on others. For in it, you will find greater health for your life and journey.

I am not minimizing pain, nor am I encouraging people to be doormats. But we have become so toxic with our bitter perspectives that health is moving farther away. A forgiving heart learns to let things go in the earlier stages, so that these problems do not follow us. For if we hold on to them, everyone else goes on with their lives, while we simmer in poison.

Let’s choose to be free.

Be quick to forgive and let go …

Mark DeJesus has been equipping people in a full time capacity since 1995, serving in various roles, including, teaching people of all ages, communicating through music, authoring books, leading and mentoring. Mark’s deepest love is his family; his wife Melissa, son Maximus and daughter Abigail. Mark is a teacher, author and mentor who uses many communication mediums, including the written word, a weekly radio podcast show and videos. His deepest call involves equipping people to live as overcomers. Through understanding inside out transformation, Mark’s message involves getting to the root of issues that contribute to the breakdown of our relationships, our health and our day-to-day peace. He is passionately reaching his world with a transforming message of love, healing and freedom. Out of their own personal renewal, Mark and Melissa founded Turning Hearts Ministries, a ministry dedicated to inside out transformation. Mark also founded Transformed You, a communication platform for Mark’s teachings, writing and broadcasts that are designed to encourage people in their journey of transformation.

For the original article, visit .

Question: Why doesn’t my church take dreams seriously? I have lots of dreams.

In the Bible, God gave dreams that provided counsel, guidance, gifts and promises. I want this! Why isn’t there more training on it? I don’t want to have to go to the New Age movement to learn about the supernatural.

Answer: “Western Christianity” has chosen to reduce Christianity to a reasoned, logical theology about a God who lives “up there.” Dreams aren’t rational or logical. Dreams constitute a direct encounter with the Living God (Acts 2:17).

Therefore, dreams are ignored. The same goes for working miracles, casting out demons, speaking in tongues, heavenly encounters and every other spiritual experience recorded in Scripture. Why would the church do this, and is there a way out of this mess? 

Part 1 – Losing Heart Revelation

1. Where Did This Rational Approach to Christianity Come From?
2. Why Would the Church Strip Spiritual Encounters From Its Experience?
3. Did You Know Satan Has Stolen the Bible From Conservatives as Well as Liberals?

Where Did This Rational Approach to Christianity Come From?

Thomas Aquinas: Even though the Bible says that man’s thoughts are not God’s thoughts (Is. 55:9), and Jesus rebuked “man’s reasoning” every time it showed up in the Gospels (Matt. 16:5-12; Mark 2:5-12, 8:15-18), and James declared man’s wisdom comes from below and is natural, sensual and demonic (James 3:13-17), the church has decided to follow the philosophy laid out by Thomas Aquinas: to limit spiritual experiences and replace them with reasoned theology.

True Knowledge! Amazingly, the word “theology” does not even appear in the Bible! “Doctrine” would be the closest word to theology, and the word doctrine only shows up 15 times in the NASB. Half the time, doctrine was rebuked because it was man’s doctrine and the other half it was considered good doctrine because it was received as revelation from God. Paul called the truth he received by revelation, “true knowledge” (Col. 3:10; 2:2-23 NASB) as opposed to “knowledge.” I don’t believe I had ever drawn a distinction in my mind between knowledge and true knowledge. That’s interesting.

Truth: A “Who” or a “what.” Pilate wanted to know, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). The answer is that truth is not a what. Truth is not a reasoned set of concepts. Truth is a Person. Jesus said, “I am Truth” (John 14:6). I experience God’s truth every time I have exchanges with Jesus, through the Holy Spirit (John 14:16,17). This is revelation-based, God-breathed, living truth, applied correctly and directly to the moment I am living. Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing” (John 6:63).

Nothing? Really?

Words or Power? The kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power (1 Cor. 4:20). Wow! So truth comes from illumination, empowering and transformation, which we experience every time we take a walk with God in the cool of the garden and He speaks.

Epistemology: The following introduces you to the basics of a Christian philosophy of “knowing.” If you have already read my books on this topic, this will serve as a short summary review, and if not, this will serve as an introductory overview.

Yuck! I guess that because I took a religion-philosophy major while at Roberts Wesleyan College, my head has been geared to think philosophically about learning. While in college, I did not recognize the value of studying philosophy, as philosophers begin with the question, “Do I exist?” and then get into discussions concerning the fact that the miracles in the Bible are myths and not to be believed. I found the entire discussion repugnant, so I figured I would just set philosophy aside.

Maybe not so bad? Now, looking back over my life and seeing that I have written many books on establishing a revelation-based Christian philosophy for knowing, I realize that the philosophy courses in college trained me to ask a question that many people have never bothered to ask, which is, “What is God’s approach for knowing truth?” What I have learned is that God’s approach to discovering truth is completely different from what the Western culture believes, and even from what my Bible college and church taught me.

A Christian philosophy of knowing: May I present to you what God has taught me concerning establishing a biblical epistemology? I like the word epistemology as it is one of the biggest words I learned in college, and it just has such a nice ring to it! It means “system for knowing.” Do you know what your system for discovering truth is?

Why Would the Church Strip Spiritual Encounters From Its Experience?

Plato: Early church fathers had fit Christian thought and experience into Plato’s philosophy. Plato was a well-known philosopher who embraced spiritual encounters as a valid means for discovering truth.

Aristotle: In trying to make Christianity acceptable to Aristotle’s philosophy, (which was sweeping Europe in the 1200s, and which did not accept divine encounter as a way of knowing truth), Thomas Aquinas spent his entire life laying out a logical, rational approach to Christianity.

Scholasticism: When Protestantism was formed, it adopted the scholasticism (i.e. a method of critical thought) of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274). He was the author of more than 80 works, including the Summa Theologica, which was accorded special honor at the Council of Trent. In adopting scholasticism, Western Christianity adopted a very academic religion, which limited supernatural experiences and was counter to Plato’s philosophy and to the Bible’s own stated approach for discovering truth.

It’s all straw! However, at the end of his life, the Lord granted Thomas Aquinas a triple dream experience (i.e. a spiritual, non-rational, supernatural experience), and it so profoundly affected him that when urged to write about it, he stated, “I cannot, because all that I have written seems like straw to me.” He would write no more, and within four months he was dead. Yet today, we have embraced his writings, which he felt were straw and essentially rejected divine encounter, which fills the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

A protest movement: Also, since Martin Luther was embattled with and reacting to the sale of indulgences along with other Papal abuses, the movement was dubbed, “Protest-ant.” Admittedly, whenever we are in a protesting mode, we generally push one side of truth, rather than the whole truth. Jon Ruthven has an easy-to-read book, What’s Wrong with Protestant Theology? in which he explores the fight Protestants were in and why they were forced into creating such a one-sided “gospel.”

Spiritual experiences lost! Scripture records over 50 dreams and visions, whose stories and outworkings reflect a full one-third of the Bible. Yet, if you checked out 1000 churches today, how many do you think would be offering a course on Christian Dream Interpretation? Perhaps none, or maybe one or two! So the question is: What gives our churches the right to reject one-third of the Bible and not even offer a Sunday school class on it?

We ate the straw! How tragic that we have chosen to major on what Thomas Aquinas considered “straw,” (i.e. man’s rational abilities), rather than on the supernatural lifestyle demonstrated throughout Scripture!

Let God be God! I suppose today some pastors would like to keep Christianity rational as they believe it is just “flakes” who hear God’s voice. And then, of course, there is the whole issue of undermining the pastor’s authority. My suggestions are, “If you train and shepherd well on how to hear God’s voice, you will greatly reduce the number of flakes. As far as authority goes, true authority comes from God’s spoken word, and not from any title one might have.” All sheep get to hear His voice (John 10:27).

Did You Know Satan Has Stolen the Bible From Conservatives as Well as Liberals?

Liberals such as Rudolf Bultmann use demythologization to explain that the miracles are simply myths that are not to be believed or sought after. Conservatives rightly reject such a position, but then go on to offer their own justification for a life devoid of the supernatural, using dispensationalism to explain why God no longer has direct encounters with individuals.

Psychotic, really! Some liberal commentaries have gone as far as to say those who have dreams are psychotic! Some conservative groups have gone so far as to not ordain pastors in their denominations if they believe God speaks through dreams! Lord, forgive us!

Good old scorn! As a fundamentalist, I used to scorn the liberals because they did not believe the Bible was the inerrant Word of God (i.e. my scorning was done before God showed me that I was to honor all people: 1 Pet. 2:17). One day in my prayer time, the Lord said, “Mark, you don’t believe the Bible is for you either.” I objected, but He went on to say, “You believe the book of Acts is transitory and transitional, the Gospels were for and only about Jesus, the Old Testament was just for the nation of Israel, and the book of Revelation is for the future. So all you believe applies directly to you are the Epistles!” I was cut to the quick. I repented, and I began an extended search to restore biblical experience to my life.

Change takes time! It took me many years to: a) break free of the false theologies I had picked up, b) conquer my own unbelief in the flow of the Holy Spirit within me and c) overcome my ignorance of how to have a variety of ongoing spiritual experiences. Every one of these battles and steps has been detailed in books I have written, and listed at the end of part four of this series.

For part 2 of this four-part series, tune in Tuesday. {eoa}

Mark Virkler is founder and president of Christian Leadership University and co-founder of Communion With God Ministries. The co-author of more than 50 books with his wife, Patti, Mark has received a Master of Theology from Miami Christian University and a Ph.D. from Carolina Christian University.

History was made in Los Angeles on Saturday as Lou Engle, Mike Bickle, CIndy Jacobs, Jack Hayford and other generals of the faith gathered at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for Azusa Now.

Jeff Jansen, founder of Global Fire Ministries, told Charisma News he believes it was one of the most significant events of the past few decades.

“Amidst the worship and intercession I believe something highly significant has shifted in the spirit and that we have stepped into a new timeline of revival in the Lord that will result in revival fires burning in not only America but the nations of the earth,” Jansen says.

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“Most already know that I am now co-hosting the Fire and Glory Outpouring in San Diego with good friends Jerame and Miranda Nelson. An outpouring of Glory and Power has been burning there for 75 nights now and people are coming from around the world to get a fresh touch from heaven. Wild miracles marked by tangible power and Presence of the Lord are poured out every night and all are excited in this fresh outpouring.”

Jansen reminds that Azusa street revival of 1906 changed the course of world history as many new denominations were birthed through the raw supernatural power and Glory of God. So now 110 years later another fresh move of God is now being birthed and fresh revival fires will burn in many cities in the nations of the earth.

“As we were driving on Interstate 5 to the Azusa Now event on April 9, I saw a large gold angel standing over LA,” Jansen says. “The Lord said, ‘Just as the 1849 gold rush drew people to California … So 4/9 2016 will mark a new gold rush of divine proportion that will once again draw the nations into revival.” {eoa}

On April 5, only three days before Azusa Now in Los Angeles, evangelist Heidi Baker began her message by first praying for Azusa Now with this very powerful prayer.

“Let Your Fire Fall Again, God” (6:05-7:03). “The same fire that fell on Azusa” (8:55). “I ask Father You gracious us for what we have been crying out, praying for, believing for another move, a great wave, Lord. The great wave we see, the great wave we hear about, the great wave Lord God! As people thrust out, send out to the end of the earth, God. O Lord God God, Do it again, God. Just do it again, Lord.” (16:35-17:07).

Baker also petitioned God that this move of the Holy Spirit would be more than temporary.

“Lord, let this not be for a week, let this not be for a month … but let it be for the rest of our lives.” {eoa}

A few years ago, my wife, Tammi, and I were with a small group of friends. Brock Gill, an amazing Christian illusionist, was a part of the group.

Someone asked him to do a couple of  “tricks” for us. He had been traveling all day with his wife and was obviously very tired, but graciously agreed to entertain us (for free … which was really cool).

He had us gather in a half-circle and Tammi sat on the floor in front of me and directly in front of Brock. Of course, Tammi’s first question was if he could make me disappear (there is a comedian in every group). He laughed and took out a deck of cards.

All the cards had blue backs. At his request, someone picked a card and showed it to all of us (four of clubs), without Brock seeing it. The card was placed back in the deck. As he fanned out the deck of blue cards, one of them had a red back. The card was revealed and it was the four of clubs. Pretty neat. 

Then he knelt down in front of Tammi and said it was her turn. He laid the red four of clubs face down on the floor beside him. He fanned out the remaining cards (all still blue) and had Tammi pick one. She chose the queen of hearts, again showing all of us, but not Brock. The card was placed back in the deck. Just as he did before, Brock fanned out the cards. But this time they all remained blue. There was no red card. He shuffled them together again, fanned them out, and still no red card. Shuffled again, fanned them out and still no red card.

Looking rather perplexed, Brock reached beside him and turned over the red card on the floor, which had been the four of clubs when he laid it down a few seconds before. Amazingly, as he turned it over, it was the queen of hearts! Tammi was (and still is) flabbergasted. She exclaimed: “That is impossible. I watched that card the whole time. It never moved!”

The next day, I told Brock that Tammi just could not get over the fact that she somehow missed the illusion. Brock smiled and told me something profound. He said, “There is a dual reality. What your eyes and mind focus on is not what is really happening.” Wow!

We all live in a dual reality, and because of that, Paul commanded, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:2). This world we live in and the things in it, are in many ways, an illusion. While we live life here on Earth, there is another reality. There’s a spiritual battle going on all around us, a struggle that is against rulers, against authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12).

But what do we do? We get so consumed with the temporal things on Earth—jobs, houses, cars, salaries, sports, clothes—the illusions of what is important, that we miss what is really going on—the spiritual warfare and the intense battle. Forces of evil are desperately and diligently seeking to destroy our homes, our children, our marriages even our lives, and sadly, too often, with great success. Because we are focused on a fleeting illusion, we are missing the reality. Our affections in this dual reality have been fixed on all the things that simply do not matter.

Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:34). Where is your treasure? What do you read? What do you watch? Where do you spend your time? That is a very good gauge as to which of the dual realities you focus upon. 

This week in your Christ walk journey and as you continue through the year, take inventory of where you have fixed your affections. Which reality do you live in? Are you focused on stuff that makes no difference to eternity? Set your mind, your affections and your heart on the things above. Set them on God things. Your life will change as you realize what is real and worth your focus and what is but a fleeting illusion.

Prayer Power for the Week of April 10, 2016

This week, ask God to help you take inventory of where you have fixed your emotions. Take what He shows you and pray for His help to set your mind and affections on what matters for eternity.  Ask Him to show you what’s important to Him and pray what’s on His heart. Pray for a new vision and determination to do your part in winning the lost and expanding His kingdom. Pray that He show you what He wants you to accomplish each day so that your days would be full but not overwhelming. Pray that revival would spread across our nation and around the world. Continue to remember Israel, our military and our leaders (Luke 12:34; Col 3:2; Eph. 6:12). {eoa}