Don Rickles, the master insult comic who created laughs with ridicule and sarcasm in a decades-long career that earned him the facetious nickname “Mr. Warmth,” died on Thursday at his Los Angeles home of kidney failure, his publicist said. He was 90.

Rickles, who said he devised his brand of mockery-based humor because he was no good at telling traditional jokes, had developed a bacterial infection in recent months that led him to cancel a number of performances.

His death was confirmed by his spokesman, Paul Shefrin, who said Rickles is survived by his wife of 52 years, Barbara, as well as their daughter, Mindy Mann, and two grandchildren. He would have turned 91 on May 8.

Rickles’ last appeared on stage in Las Vegas in late October. But he continued to work after falling ill in February, taping segments of an upcoming internet series for the American Association of Retired Persons titled “Dinner with Don,” hosting one-on-one conversations with various celebrities, Shefrin said.

The New York-born Rickles had an intense, often-ad libbed, rapid-fire delivery and a wide, impish grin. He delighted nightclub audiences, Hollywood royalty and politicians by hurling invective at them, all in good fun.

Encountering Frank Sinatra for the first time during a stand-up act in 1957, Rickles greeted the mercurial singer as Sinatra walked in with a retinue of tough guys by saying, “Make yourself at home, Frank—hit somebody.”

Luckily for Rickles, the line amused Sinatra, who became one of his biggest boosters and took to calling the short, bald Rickles “Bullethead.” The comedian soon became an ex-officio member of the Sinatra-led group of popular entertainers known as the “Rat Pack.”

Dishing It Out

Performing decades later at the second inaugural gala of U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1985, Rickles did not hesitate to zing the commander-in-chief, asking, “Is this too fast for you, Ronnie?”

But the most frequent targets of the “Merchant of Venom” were the fans who packed his performances for a chance to be belittled as a “dummy,” a “hockey puck” or worse. Celebrities often showed up just for the honor of being mocked by Rickles, and no minority or ethnic group was immune to a Rickles tongue-lashing.

“He was called ‘The Merchant of Venom,’ but in truth, he was one of the kindest, caring and most sensitive human beings we have ever known,” actor-comedian Bob Newhart and his wife, Ginnie, said in a statement.

Comic actor Jim Carrey tweeted: “Don once begged me for a couple of bucks, then told me to twist myself into a pretzel. Ego slayer! Comic Everest!” Oscar winner Tom Hanks also tweeted a tribute to his Toy Story co-star, saying, “A God died today. Don Rickles, we did not want to ever lose you. Never.”

Rickles also mocked himself and shied away from describing his act as insult comedy, insisting his humor stemmed not from mean-spiritedness but from wild exaggerations played for laughs.

“If I were to insult people and mean it, that wouldn’t be funny,” he once said.

Much of Rickles’ material played on racial and ethnic stereotypes that did not always keep up with cultural evolution.

He came under fire in 2012 for a joke that characterized President Barack Obama as a janitor. His spokesman defended the line as just “a joke, as were the other comments Don made that night.”

“Anyone who knows him knows he’s not a racist,” the spokesman told Politico then.

Heckling the Hecklers

Rickles, a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, proved especially adept in early nightclub engagements at handling hecklers. Eventually, poking fun at audience members would become a major part of his act.

In an interview with Reuters to promote his 2007 memoir Rickles’ Book, he said his flair for impromptu insults grew out of his shortcomings as a conventional comic.

“I just can’t tell jokes,” he said. “As a young man I had a personality that I could rib somebody and get away with it.”

Rickles, who served in the U.S. Navy during World War Two, also built a resume as an actor, making his film debut as a junior officer alongside Clark Cable and Burt Lancaster in the 1958 submarine drama Run Silent, Run Deep.

He went on to appear in a series of 1960s “beach party” movies with Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon and in 1970 played Army hustler Sergeant Crapgame in the wartime caper Kelly’s Heroes, with Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas and Donald Sutherland.

He endeared himself to an entirely new generation by providing the voice of Mr. Potato Head in the computer-animated Toy Story movie and its two sequels in the 1990s. In 1995, he had a dramatic role in Martin Scorsese’s Las Vegas crime film Casino.

But Rickles’ biggest exposure came on television, both as a frequent sitcom guest star and late-night and variety show regular, especially on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and The Dean Martin Show.

On Carson, Rickles was typically introduced by Spanish matador music, signifying someone was about to be metaphorically gored.

Several Rickles TV series were short-lived, the most popular of which was the NBC comedy . Sharkey, in which he starred as a U.S. Navy chief petty officer in charge of new recruits. The series lasted just two seasons.

A TV documentary, Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project, directed by John Landis, aired on HBO in 2007. {eoa}

It makes me physically ill when I think that the U.S. could be on the verge of starting a disastrous war in the Middle East that will not benefit us in any way, shape or form. I can’t believe this is happening, and a lot of other people apparently can’t either.

 In fact, there were some who heavily criticized me when I suggested that Donald Trump had just committed to taking military action in Syria in part 1 and part 2 of this series of articles. But less than 24 hours later, the front page of USA Today was running this jarring headline: “Trump team developing military response in Syria”. 

It is interesting to note that this came on the 77th day of Trump’s presidency, and on Thursday it was also revealed that the Trump administration is working to put together an international coalition to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power. The following comes from Fox News:

America’s top diplomat addressed the Syria crisis a day after Trump declared in the Rose Garden that the chemical strike would not be tolerated. Tillerson pointedly said Russia should “consider carefully” its support for the Assad regime, while calling for an international effort to defeat ISIS in Syria, stabilize the country and ultimately work with partners through a political process that leads to Assad leaving power.

Asked if the U.S. would organize a coalition to remove Assad, Tillerson said: “Those steps are underway.”

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also told the press that Assad has “no role” in governing Syria in the future, and he pledged there there will be a “serious response” to the recent chemical attack in Syria’s Idlib province. Approximately 8:40 p.m. EDT Thursday night, at the direction of President Donald Trump, two U.S. Navy destroyers launched nearly 60 cruise missiles at the Syrian Air Force base from which it is believed to have launched its chemical weapons attack against the people of the Idlib province.

Of course it is extremely doubtful that Assad had anything to do with that chemical attack, and I am going to share some more of that evidence with you in Part 4 of this series.

In terms of what that “serious response” will look like, a lot will be determined over the next 48 hours as Trump consults with his top national security advisers:

Defense Secretary James Mattis will brief President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on military options against Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s regime later on Thursday in the wake of a deadly attack which activists said killed at least 100 people—including 25 children—and injured at least 400 others earlier this week.

The White House and Pentagon have had detailed back-and-forth conversations over the past two days over options including a National Security Council meeting Wednesday. Mattis and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster have had repeated contact about the best way forward, a U.S. official told NBC News.

Now that the U.S. has launched airstrikes, any hope for improved relations with Russia will be permanently extinguished, and it could easily result in the Russians shooting back at us.

The Russians have S-300 and S-400 air defense systems already in place in Syria. Both of those systems are some of the most advanced in the world and are a significant threat to U.S. warplanes.

As I discussed yesterday, it is not difficult to imagine what would happen if footage of U.S. aircraft being blown out of the sky by Russian missiles started rolling on our cable news channels 24 hours a day.

Even now, U.S. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham are urging President Trump to consider “the grounding of Assad’s air force”:

In addition to other measures, the United States should lead an international coalition to ground Assad’s air force. This capability provides Assad a strategic advantage in his brutal slaughter of innocent civilians, both through the use of chemical weapons as well as barrel bombs, which kill far more men, women and children on a daily basis … Ultimately, the grounding of Assad’s air force can and should be part of a new comprehensive strategy to end the conflict in Syria.

Of course if Trump goes to war with another sovereign nation without the approval of Congress, that would be a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution, and that is something else I would be talking about in part 4 of this series.

Even though I am writing about all of this, I still have a hard time believing that this is all happening less than three months into Trump’s presidency. The stage is being set for the kind of scenario that I outlined in The Beginning Of The End, and right now, I am far more alarmed by the state of world events than I was at any point in 2016.

I am particularly disturbed by all of this talk about removing Assad.

How in the world does the Trump administration plan to do that?

Even if they conduct a massive bombing campaign that would turn Damascus into a “ruinous heap,” that would still not guarantee regime change.

The only thing that would guarantee regime change is a full-scale ground invasion and the conquest of the entire city of Damascus.

Of course, the Russians, the Iranians and Hezbollah would not willingly step aside and let “coalition forces” march to Damascus, and so such a move could very easily spark World War 3 in the Middle East.

I can’t believe Trump is actually thinking of going to war with Syria. There is nothing to be gained and so much that could be lost. Let us hope that someone can talk some sense to him while there is still time to do so. {eoa}

With the Senate scheduled to vote Friday evening on the confirmation of 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court, Family Research Council Vice President Jerry Boykin issued the following statement in an email to supporters:

Senate Democrats have secured enough votes to filibuster the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch, and I need your immediate help as we work to add his conservative voice to the U.S. Supreme Court.

We must let Republicans in Washington know that we are behind them—100 percent—in the effort to confirm Judge Gorsuch this week.

Democrats have been building opposition against this respected justice for months. In fact, they were making a case against Judge Gorsuch before he was even the official nominee!

The liberal media, Senate Democrats, and radical left—led by Planned Parenthood and the ACLU—have been claiming this seat was “stolen” from Barack Obama’s nominee and making this one of the toughest Supreme Court battles in history.

Now it’s up to us to ensure Republicans in Washington know we’re behind them and their valiant efforts to end the debate and confirm this judge with a pro-life, pro-family, pro-Constitution record to the highest court in the nation right away.

If we flood Washington with our conservative, grassroots voices, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and all Republicans will know we support their efforts to do whatever is needed to confirm Judge Gorsuch.

Judge Gorsuch must be confirmed this week, and Republicans must know the grassroots are behind them. We must answer the call and stand up for Judge Gorsuch and all conservative Americans right now. {eoa}

I was preaching in the state of Arizona with one of my spiritual sons, Prophet Jason Armstrong, where he released a strong word about resurrecting the type of miracle mantle that A.A. Allen carried. There was something deep and penetrating about that word. It would crop up over and over again as I traveled back into the state of Arizona. The Lord has shown me the unfolding of a miraculous era in America and His plans for the state of Arizona. On my last trip there, I was preaching when I saw an eagle landing upon the region, and the Lord said to me, “The eagle has landed.” He showed me apostolic and prophetic generals coming into the borders of Arizona laboring for kingdom advancement.

“For God speaks once, yes twice, yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction” (Job 33:14-16).

I had a series of dreams and night visions in which the Lord showed me the release of miracle mantles and power in the church. He told me, “It’s miracle time in America again!” This is a word that I am convinced of and for which I am contending. It is a prophetic decree for the people of God. There is to be an unlocking of spectacular miracles and radical outpourings.

Miracles were at the heart of the ministry of Jesus!

For He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him (Mark 13:10). 

Healing and miracles occurred as people encountered Jesus. It was absolutely impossible to get up close without experiencing supernatural wonders. This same pattern fueled the explosive growth of the early church.

“Many signs and wonders were performed among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Porch” (Acts 5:12).

I have always loved studying the lives and stories of kingdom forerunners. It strengthens my faith and inspires me to hear how they contended for their generation. Recently, the Lord highlighted the miracle ministry of A.A. Allen to me again and shared that there is prophetic insight in His story.

His journey into the miraculous began with desperation.

He locked himself in a closet, determined to find the God of miracles. We will see the emerging of those who have an uncommon desperation. This hunger has been placed there by God Himself. His prayers fueled the release of radical miracles. True hunger always releases seeking.

His Ministry Tore Down Racial Barriers

He was proud of the fact that he was a forerunner in racial integration in his meetings. He boldly preached against racism and promoted African- American singer Gene Martin. A.A. Allen enjoyed a rich relationship with the African-American community; they embraced him and supported his meetings. The Lord showed me that one of the assignments for the coming wave of miracle preachers is racial injustice and diversity. The kingdom must represent all people. It is unacceptable that we still have so much separation in 2017. We have come a long way but the journey is not over. I believe God is uniting cultures to establish His kingdom.

Release of the Decree

A.A. Allen was a preacher. He declared the Word loudly and laid hands on people with velocity. He was unapologetically loud and bold. I was saved in the word of faith movement. I absolutely love sound Bible teaching. You learn how to walk things out by being taught but there is another dimension of victory that comes when you sit under a heavenly decree. I believe that God is raising up preachers in this hour. There will be a bursting forth of fiery preachers who boldly declare the truth with an anointing to plow the ground, cast the devil out and release the kingdom.

The Rise of Ministry Centers

At the time of his death, A.A. Allen’s ministry owned a 2,400-acre complex known as Miracle Valley. This unusual center included a Bible College, ministry center, media headquarters and an airfield. This was a manifestation of an apostolic spirit on the life of this trailblazer. I believe that we will see the rise of unusual ministry centers, revival hubs, apostolic centers and global bases. This is part of the expanding wineskin of the ekklesia (church).

Media Is Key

Reverend Allen preached against injustice, healed the sick and won the lost on radio and television. He understood the power of media. The Lord told me that the internet is the 21st Century prayer cloth. It is a modern means of connecting people to the anointing. We will see entire churches and movements built online. Those preaching against social media are giving voice to a religious spirit and being used by the devil to take God’s people off a mountain they are called to conquer. We are as far along as we are today because of pioneers that tackled the media mountain.

Gift of Faith Was Activated

Miracles can be accessed by the gift of faith. Allen’s ministry preached and demonstrated. He unlocked the gift of faith in the body! May we have a generation of preachers today that pull on the glory realms and open up dimensions of faith.

Wild Signs and Wonders

In addition to formidable miracles, Reverend Allen also had unusual manifestations in his meetings. There is a widely viewed video of oil flowing from his hands. We will see these types of strange signs and wonders in the days ahead and are even seeing them now.

Controversy Follows Miracles

Reverend Allen had many controversies following his ministry, most notably an arrest. There are differences of opinions and only those present really know the truth. There is a lesson here for our generation. If we are going to move in power and go for the full manifestation of the kingdom, there will be critics and controversies. We must have a determination not to give up. Quitting is not an option.

I believe there is a bold new era of the miraculous. I am not looking back but dreaming ahead. I don’t want anyone else’s mantle. I want mine, it fits right. However, I believe that the life of this legend holds some powerfully significant prophetic clues to the next move of God.

Let’s go for it! {eoa}

Ryan LeStrange started in ministry after training and serving under his spiritual father, Dr. Norvel Hayes. Ryan and his wife, Joy, lead Impact International Ministries, based in Bristol, Virginia. The ministry consists of several local churches and revival ministries. Through Ryan LeStrange Ministries, he travels the globe preaching, igniting revival and moving in the power of God. Ryan can be seen weekly on his television program, Power 4 Today, airing around the world on GodTV. He is the founder and apostle of Impact International Apostolic Fellowship, networking and fathering ministers around the world. Ryan has written several books releasing an apostolic and prophetic perspective to the body of Christ.

When you listen to Todd White talk about Jesus, he literally oozes agape love—and he’s equipping a generation to flow in Holy Ghost power and devotion that deliver people from demons, heal them from diseases and root them firmly in their divine identity.

Viral YouTube videos show Todd walking the streets of the world, at times risking his neck to demonstrate the healing gifts of God to people who may only know the Jesus of religion but not of relationship. Todd’s power evangelism ministry has set the stage for miracle healings that have inspired many unbelievers—even sold-out Muslims—to turn their hearts to Christ.

What many don’t know is before God could use Todd as a conduit for the perfect love that casts out pain, infirmity and fear, He had to flood a wounded man’s heart with kindness that led him to repentance from a life of atheism, drugs, alcohol and violence. Todd lived the better part of 34 years broken, angry, bitter and high on whatever would numb the pain before he finally surrendered his life to the Lord.

Here’s the backstory: When Todd was only 11 years old, his parents split up. Mom left him at Masonic Homes—a program for Masons and their families—never to return. As soon as Todd was old enough, he joined the Marine Corps on a dare. But even the Marines could not break the strong-willed youth’s rebellious nature. Twelve days after entering military service, he went AWOL, stole money in a drug deal and landed in military prison before ultimately exiting with a Bad Conduct Discharge.

The story waxes worse from there. Even though Todd couldn’t hold down a job, he found a girlfriend and fathered a baby. When the girl threatened to leave him, a drug-addicted Todd threatened to murder her and commit suicide. In a moment of desperation, he went to a church, where God was waiting to speak to him through a man named Dan Mohler.

“Dan shared the gospel and told me I needed to give Jesus my life,” Todd recalls. “I was like, ‘Fine, whatever. I don’t want my life anyway.’ I had no idea what I was getting into, no clue. I prayed and said, ‘God, if You’re real, You show me You’re real. I’ll live for you.’ Simple as that. I went home and called my girlfriend, but she wouldn’t talk to me. I told my daughter to tell her Daddy found God.”

Living Like a Hypocrite

That loving confrontation opened Todd’s eyes to God, but his life wasn’t radically changed by reciting the sinner’s prayer. Although his atheist girlfriend gave him a second chance, Todd continued smoking crack and worse. He was confessing Christ, but he was stoned out of his mind much of the time. He describes the first five and a half months of his walk with God as a Romans 7:15 life: “For what I am doing, I do not understand, for I do not practice what I will to do, but I do the very thing I hate.”

If Paul was the “chief sinner,” Todd may have been by his own confession the chief hypocrite. His double life came to a screeching halt the night he impersonated a cop and stole a crack dealer’s stash in New York City. As Todd fled the scene, the dealer unloaded a 9 mm pistol on him at 10-foot range. He should have been dead, and he knew it. But he heard a voice say, “I took those bullets for you. Are you ready to live for Me yet?”

“I was baffled by the voice,” Todd recalls. “I didn’t know what it was, but I knew that it was not from this world. I did drugs to try to get the voice to go away. I couldn’t get it to go away no matter how many drugs I took, no matter how high I tried to get. I went home, and my girlfriend told me to get out of her life. My daughter was screaming. I went away to a place called Teen Challenge three days later.”

Todd spent two months in rehab and started reading the Bible every morning, asking the Lord to open up the Scriptures. After about six weeks, the Bible came alive to him, and God started training him in righteousness. He realized God is real and the Word is alive. That sharp Word started cutting through Todd’s wrong thoughts, and soon, supernatural encounters with the God who loved him enough to die for him—and take bullets for him—began.

“For three nights, I had encounters with Jesus in a valley,” Todd recalls. “He took me to Psalm 23 every morning. On the third night, He told me to go home. I packed my stuff 10 months early and went home to tell my daughter I was sorry. I realized I was a father for the first time in my life. I held her as a dad would hold his daughter. I told my girlfriend how sorry I was, and we decided that day to get married.”

Determined not to live a double life anymore, Todd went into the house with Hefty trash bags and filled them with drugs, pornography, drug paraphernalia and every other wicked thing he could find in the home. He emptied the bags into a beer barrel, smashed the barrel with a sledgehammer, saturated it with gasoline and burned it to oblivion.

That was 12 years ago. Today, Todd and his wife, Sarah, have three girls, ages 19, 10 and 5. The couple is adopting a little boy.

“Since that day, that stuff has never, ever had a voice in my life,” Todd says. “My past never had a voice in my future because Jesus has made it possible to wipe out all the things I wish I’d never done. He enabled me to follow in His godly manner. It’s not just a one-time repentance. It’s a lifestyle where I really look at things from God’s perspective. God’s training my heart so I can see with His eyes.”

From Visitation to Habitation

Truly, Todd’s life has been radically transformed. The 47-year-old does ministry under the banner of Lifestyle Christianity. His mission is threefold: to bring Christians closer to Christ by helping them secure an identity in the Father’s love, strengthen their confidence in the Holy Spirit and keep things simple so He can flow through them everywhere they go.

“Todd White’s ministry is very similar to when Jesus was on this earth in that Todd is walking around looking for people who need a Savior, who need a healer, who need a deliverer,” says Robert Morris, senior pastor at Gateway Church—and Todd’s pastor. “And when he meets someone, he’s very sensitive to figuring out what their need is and then sharing how Jesus can meet that need.”

Some may look at Todd’s life—His encounters with God—and conclude it’s easy for him to walk the straight and narrow because of the supernatural events that led to His salvation. But Todd says it’s not an encounter or a visitation that truly transforms your life—it’s the habitation of God. At that point in our conversation, Todd preached a message about identity in Christ that delighted my heart. It’s the message he’s taking to the nations that has put him on the map as one who truly knows God and wants to make Him known.

“I’ve pressed into this work called righteousness,” Todd told me. “In the Old Testament, the only way [you] can be right with God is you have to obey 613 laws and 10 commandments, never missing one, because if you transgress one [commandment] in the law, you’ve broken the whole law. That means whether somebody was a drug addict for 22 years and an atheist and murdered people, sold drugs, stole from people and lied every day of their life, or if a person lies one time, both are equally as guilty.”

Some people point to Todd’s background and say he loves much because he was forgiven much (see Luke 7:47). Todd rejects that idea and calls it a subtle form of self-righteousness that claims people who have been forgiven only a little can’t love much. He explains we all have the same charge to love God with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul and all our strength (Mark 12:30-31). Todd credits his transformation with pressing into a revelation of true redemption.

“Redemption doesn’t just mean being purchased,” Todd explains. “Redemption means being brought back to the original value we had with God in the beginning as if we never sinned, as if we never ate from the tree. That’s how God sees me. If I wake up that way every day, then if I trip, if I stumble, God says He’s faithful and just to keep me and to cleanse me of all unrighteousness. That means the only thing left is right standing with God. Here I am, right with God, and nobody can take that away from me.”

Robby Dawkins, a fifth-generation pastor and conference speaker who has known Todd for eight years, told me the dreadlock-wearing evangelist lives in the moment and seeks kingdom opportunities as they happen—and is always willing to be interrupted or interrupt to bring them.

“What I see Todd bringing to the body of Christ is inspiration to speak the words Jesus spoke and do the works Jesus did out of being [the people] Jesus made us to be,” Dawkins says. “He is a frontrunner on the identity message and on righteousness. Todd communicates so well the understanding of us not moving in signs and wonders as a task, but as living out righteousness. It isn’t doing for Todd, but rather, being.”

I’ve heard some argue Todd adheres to the hyper-grace message, which claims God doesn’t see the sins of his children since we’ve already been made righteous by the blood of Jesus and since all our sins—past, present and future—have already been forgiven. But it’s more like hyper-love. It’s more like a true understanding that God’s grace is new every morning. It’s more like a knowledge that God’s grace empowers His forgiveness and allows Him to have His way in us completely, to change us from the inside out.

“When righteousness hits your heart, that keeps you from ever wanting to sin and get away with it,” Todd says. “It keeps you clean in the eyes of the Father. I wake up right with God every day of my life. He created me in His image and in His likeness. He made us. When I was at Teen Challenge, I read the Bible from the perspective of being right with God every day. I grow in the reality of who God says I am.”

This revolutionary revelation of the person he is in Christ has kept Todd from returning to drugs, alcohol, pornography, lying, cheating and stealing. He finds such comfort in God’s love and God’s voice that when the devil speaks, Todd won’t listen. He just continues standing in the truth of who he is in God. That truth, he explains, keeps his conscience clean and empowers him to live and walk in the Spirit through an ongoing pursuit of God.

“Todd and I have traveled together in other countries and most of the U.S. equipping people to step in healing and calling out perfect strangers’ true identity in Christ,” Dawkins says. “It’s what Todd lives for. I’ve seen Todd speak in front of thousands and then pull my six boys off in our home and call out their identity with the same passion. His heart is not to be a spectacle but to make Jesus famous everywhere he goes.”

As Morris sees it, what makes Todd so effective is he has never gotten over being saved—and he shares his testimony in a non-offensive way. When people see what God has done in Todd’s life, faith arises in their hearts.

“God is using Todd in two ways,” Morris says. “He is using him to rekindle love in believers’ hearts and lives. When believers see how passionate he is about the Lord and about helping people, it rekindles a fire in all of us to be more passionate about sharing our faith and ministering to people wherever we go. The second way God is using Todd is to equip people to share their faith and minister to others by extending God’s love, compassion and power. He’s a very effective communicator and equipper of the saints.”

Equipping a Fatherless Generation

Bible revelations—revelations of sonship—are the backdrop against which Todd ministers in the nations. He’s pouring out the love Holy Spirit has shed abroad in his heart with those snared in the bondages of drugs, alcohol, unbelief—and even religion. Indeed, his life has become a weapon of righteousness and a testimony of what understanding the extravagant love of God does in a person’s heart. He’s working to inspire believers to show forth the love of Christ in their homes and workplaces—on the streets and everywhere they walk.

“We need to be a people who are so heavenly minded we’re not known as people with no earthly good,” Todd says. “We need to be people who are so heavenly minded we’re earthly incredible, and our employer wants more people like us on the job. Christians should shine the brightest because they’re representing God, who is the greatest in everything. He wants us to manifest Him. All creation is groaning and waiting for the sons of God to manifest themselves.”

Lately, Todd has been traveling across America with his Power and Love School to raise up an army of sons and daughters who will manifest God. It’s a project he wants to devote his life to because he is determined to see the body of Christ walk in purity, power, love, grace and goodness, manifesting God’s presence everywhere we go. And it all comes back to embracing our identity in Christ, which Todd calls the church’s greatest challenge in this hour.

“There are people out there who are healing the sick, prophesying great prophecies and have amazing words of knowledge, but let’s never forget that the disciples—before they knew who they were—healed the sick and orphans with power Jesus gave them,” Todd says. “People can still have an adulterous relationship, cheat on their wife and operate in great gifting. But it says in Matthew 7, one day we’ll stand before God and think the miraculous was God’s stamp of approval on their life, and it’s really not.”

Certainly, Todd isn’t saying we should not pursue the supernatural. His power evangelism ministry and the many healings and miracles the Lord has worked through his faith speak for themselves. He’s saying the church scandals—whether public or private—are rooted in a lack of identity. He’s saying when we understand who we are, there is no place for active sin in our lives, the kind of sin that has tarnished moves of God so people remember the sin of a man more than the power of God.

“My biggest heart-cry for the church is for us to know who God is as a Father and trust individually to be fathered by Him—to not just say we’re saved, but to know what we’ve been saved to and what we’ve been saved from,” Todd says.

“I long for the body of Christ to realize she has been forgiven, that she doesn’t have a past, because your past is the one thing that can separate you from receiving the love of God that’s in Christ Jesus,” he says. “The one thing that can separate you is not believing that your past does not exist in the eyes of the Father. This revelation will change people’s lives forever. It changed mine.”

Jennifer LeClaire is senior editor of Charisma, director of the Awakening House of Prayer and author of many books, including Releasing the Angels of Abundant Harvest (). Visit her at .

Todd White tells how God used him to touch a hurting man’s life with His love—and how He can use you the same way—at .

In this segment, we show you a deeper revelation on why these three men were mentioned in the book of Ezekiel, and why they were the remnant who would have survived in the midst of calamities and judgment. What are the attributes of these men that we need to follow in our walk with God today? Watch the video for the entire message:

{eoa}

Ricky Scaparo is a former pastor and founder of the international ministry End Time Headlines. This ministry has exploded over the past few years, attracting hundreds of thousands of followers and subscribers via the website () and social media streams. Ricky provides resources to equip believers and to inform the discerning of the signs and seasons in which we live. His mission is to inform his readers and viewers of prophetic events and how they are unfolding before our very eyes through news and headlines presented from a prophetic perspective in light of the holy Bible. This ministry is also an outreach ministry that presents the gospel to the lost through preaching and teaching of the Word of God.

This article originally appeared at .

Secretary of State Tillerson says that Bashar Assad is guilty of using chemical weapons against his own people. Former senator Ron Paul says there’s no way Assad would do this at this point in time. A report on Infowars claims that Syrian rebels are responsible for the attack. President Trump blames Obama’s inaction for what happened in Syria. Senator McCain rips Trump.

Do we really know what’s going on in Syria? And even if we did, should we try to remove Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad?

According to Rex Tillerson, “There is no doubt in our mind and the information we have supports that Syria, the Syrian regime under the leadership of Bashar al-Assad are responsible for this attack, and I think further it’s very important that the Russian government consider carefully their continued support for the Assad regime.”

According to Ron Paul, “[I]t doesn’t make any sense for Assad under these conditions to all of a sudden use poison gases,” he continued. “I think there is a zero chance he would have done, you know, this deliberately.”

According to Infowars, “the White Helmets, a al-Qaeda affiliated group funded by George Soros and the British government, reportedly staged the sarin attack on civilians in the Syrian city of Khan Shaykhun to lay blame on the Syrian government.”

Who’s right?

Obviously, the Trump administration has far more intel than any of us, and America has already launched its first attack on an airfield in Syria.

But our previous missteps in the Middle East call for caution. We should not act unilaterally until we have a long-term plan.

Think back to Iraq.

We may have had the best intentions in removing Saddam Hussein from power, and he was certainly guilty of horrific crimes. But his removal created a vacuum of power in the region, contributing to the rise of ISIS and the terrible persecution of Christians (and others). What happens if we take out Assad?

Right-wing commentator Paul Joseph Watson expressed his concerns in one tweet: “Regime change in Syria = More dead children More terrorism More refugees ISIS taking the entire country Possible war with Russia. Disaster

The problem is that the sarin attack is so ghastly that it feels criminal not to act.

Who can forget the images of the gassed children? Who can forget the picture of the father holding his dead baby twins?

If war is hell, the war in Syria has been a special kind of hell, a literal inferno of suffering. Yet this latest attack has crossed yet another line.

But for that very reason, we must cautiously and carefully, especially now that we have struck our first retaliatory blow.

Hundreds of thousands of lives have already been lost. Unspeakable atrocities have already been committed. People have been blown to bits, ripped apart, maimed, tortured and more.

Children have lost their parents and parents have lost their children. Whole families have been destroyed in a single day. The peace-loving have been butchered side by side with the terrorists, and really bad guys are present on all sides of the battle.

In short, while the sarin attack crossed a definite line, other lines have been crossed time and again (do you remember President Obama’s red line?). And so, we must act, but we must act prudently. The most recent atrocity, as appalling as it is, cannot force our hand.

What then do we do?

First, if we are not 100 percent sure that the Assad regime is responsible for the chemical attack, we must continue gathering information, even after our first strikes. The lasting controversy over WMDs in Iraq serves as a cautionary warning.

Second, we must think through the long-term regional implications of whatever actions we take, lest our actions lead to even greater suffering and instability.

Third, we must do what we can to support the best players in this bloody drama (if such players exist) while doing our best to protect and aid the innocent, like Syrian Christians who have been caught in the crossfire.

Fourth, we must pray for God’s kingdom to come to Syria, in the words of the Lord’s prayer. Only divine intervention can bring real healing to that ravaged nation. {eoa}

At close to 40 percent when including state rates, the U.S. corporate tax rate is one of the highest in the world.

By comparison, the average corporate tax rate among nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development stands at 25 percent.

Politicians and pundits often talk about companies moving operations to friendlier corporate tax countries, and they are right to do so. The corporate tax climate in the U.S. is a major factor in companies’ decisions to move abroad.

Some of those companies are uniquely American, yet nonetheless have relocated. Here are just six examples:

1. Burger King

While Burger King does not directly cite taxation as its motive for moving, it is clear it will benefit. It is reported that between 2015 and 2018, Burger King could save $275 million in taxes.

In 2014, Burger King Corp. purchased Canadian fast-food restaurant Tim Hortons Inc., and soon thereafter moved its company headquarters to Canada, where the net corporate tax rate is a mere 15 percent.

2. Liberty Global PLC

Liberty Global PLC, an American-based telecom company that primarily provides broadband internet service, hopped across the pond to London after purchasing British-based telecom company Virgin Media PLC for $23 billion in 2013. The United Kingdom currently has a corporate tax rate of 20 percent.

3. Tyco International PLC

Tyco International PLC, which produces security and fire protection devices such as the sprinkler, and is domiciled in Ireland, accepted a deal to merge with Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls. Tyco is now headquartered in Ireland where the corporate tax rate is 12.5 percent—the lowest in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

4. Medtronics PLC

Medtronics PLC, known for a variety of technological developments, including the pacemaker, merged with Irish pharmaceutical company Covidien, enabling it to take advantage of the low corporate tax rate in Ireland. Since the merger, Medtronics has saved more than $3 billion in taxes and currently has over $14 billion stashed overseas.

5. Waste Connections Inc.

In 2016, Texas-based Waste Connections Inc., a waste management company, and Ontario-based Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. merged in order to take advantage of the Canadian corporate tax rate. The merger is worth north of $4.1 billion, potentially saving millions.

6. IHS Inc.

Also in 2016, financial services company IHS Inc. agreed to merge with Markit Ltd., a data company based in the United Kingdom. With the merger worth upward of $13 billion, the move to London means that a substantial reduction in its tax burden will have large implications for the company.

Some companies, on the other hand, were not able to relocate.

Take global pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. Pfizer aimed to move its headquarters to Ireland through the purchase of Allergan PLC, an Irish-based pharmaceutical company, but was blocked by the Obama administration in a stunning display of targeted executive regulation.

The $160 billion deal would have been the largest corporate inversion in U.S. history.

Clearly, corporate inversions are a problem that needs to be solved—but using regulation to keep companies on U.S. soil is the wrong way to solve the problem. Using executive orders to force companies to stay fails to address the deeper reason companies are fleeing.

The simple reason, as these examples illustrate, is the hostile corporate tax climate.

To address that problem, Congress should pass sweeping corporate tax reform that dramatically lowers rates, making America the most attractive place in the world to do business.

An ideal reform would bring rates as low as possible for both small and large businesses. This rate should at least make us competitive with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average.

In addition, it should repeal the 3.8 percent Obamacare surtax on capital gains and dividends, allow for immediate expensing, and move to a territorial tax system like almost every other developed nation has.

We believe in a free and open market for business that allows global competition, and allows companies to be free to move as they please. But in order to compete in the free market, we need to have policies that attract businesses and keeps them here, not deter them or cause them to leave.

For the U.S. to continue with the highest corporate tax rate in the world, we fight with one hand tied behind our back. To bring these companies home, and to attract new companies, we must reform the corporate tax rate and give job creators the ability to grow right here in America. {eoa}

Timothy Doescher is a research associate at The Heritage Foundation. Karl Keyzer-Andre is a member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation.

This article was originally published at . Used with permission.

Eschatology expert and prolific author Joel Richardson may have unlocked one of the Bible’s greatest mysteries: The prophecy detailed in Revelation 17-18.

On her forehead a name was written: 

MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly. Then the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns” (Rev. 17:5). 

When Richardson started digging, he found some startling information.

Watch the video to see!

{eoa}

Tony Beasley never lost faith, even when he was diagnosed with cancer. 

“It’s been an opportunity for me to be who I said I am,” said Beasley, the third base coach for the Texas Rangers. “My favorite verse is 2 Corinthians 5:7: ‘For we walk by faith, not by sight.’ To have an opportunity to actually live that out was a blessing.”

With a giant U.S. flag unfurled in the outfield grass and a sellout crowd of 48,350 standing to honor America, all attention centered on Beasley this week (April 3) as he returned full time to the game he loves after a year spent battling rectal cancer.

“An inspiration to us all” is how longtime Rangers public address announcer Chuck Morgan introduced the 50-year-old coach, who was invited to sing the national anthem on opening day.

“You can ask anybody in here just how big an impact Beasley has on everybody as far as his faith and his attitude — it’s just contagious,” outfielder Delino DeShields told a reporter in the Rangers’ clubhouse at Globe Life Park. “Even last year, he came in with a smile on his face and always had positive words.”

Under blue skies on a 76-degree night, Beasley offered a soulful rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” — and couldn’t help but reflect on his emotional journey of the past year.

“I actually closed my eyes when I sang, just to keep in rhythm with the beat and to block out the delay,” the coach said. “But it was an honor. It was a blessing.

“This time last year, I was undergoing chemotherapy,” added Beasley, who received his cancer diagnosis in January 2016, “and to be able to be back at full capacity, I just thank God for that.”

As he gently swayed his head from side to side as he sang, Beasley said, he concentrated on his gratefulness that God had healed him — with an aggressive 11 months of treatment that included radiation and surgery. He received a clean bill of health in December.

“I’m always thinking in spiritual terms because everything I have and everything I do is because of God’s goodness and his grace,” said the coach, who is married to Stacy and has a son, Tony Jr., 22, an outfielder for Hardin-Simmons University, a Baptist school in Abilene, Texas. “I don’t have to be here, but because of his mercy, I’m here. So I’m thankful.”

The roots of Beasley’s faith stretch back to his childhood: He grew up one of eight brothers and sisters born to the late James and Arlene Beasley. His working-class father earned a living as a logger. His mother stayed busy caring for the children.

The family had little in terms of material blessings, but it had everything it really needed, as Beasley recalls.

The Beasleys fed their souls each Sunday at the Jerusalem Baptist Church in rural Sparta, Va. Tony Beasley still worships at that same church in the offseason, and his brother Jared serves as the pastor.

Jerusalem Baptist is where a young Tony Beasley first developed his vocal talents. He sang in the church youth choir starting at age 11 or 12 — he can’t remember which — and became a church deacon at 19.

But Beasley said he didn’t really embrace his Christian faith until he joined the baseball team in 1988 at Liberty University, the evangelical Christian school in Lynchburg, Va. Then-Liberty coach Bobby Richardson, who played second base for the New York Yankees from 1955 to 1966, served as a mentor to Beasley.

“At Liberty was when I really understood what it meant to have a personal relationship with Christ and to really surrender,” Beasley said, “and so that’s when I really fully gave my all to him. (Since then), I’ve been trying to walk worthy of God’s glory.”

Beasley was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 1989 and traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1991. He played nine seasons in the minor leagues before becoming a coach in the Pirates and Washington Nationals organizations. He came to Texas in 2015 when his longtime friend Jeff Banister was hired as the Rangers’ manager.

Banister faced his own cancer battle when he was diagnosed with cancer in his left leg as a high school sophomore and underwent seven surgeries. He praised his longtime friend — with whom he rooms during spring training — for confronting the disease with a fighting, confident spirit.

Beasley’s faith definitely made a difference in his approach to cancer, the manager said.

“For Tony, it’s a strong role because it’s a strong faith,” Banister said. “That’s where he draws his overall strength.”

Jared Sandler, a Rangers radio broadcaster, has a torn ACL and is walking on crutches, but he made his way to the dirt area behind home plate to hear Beasley, an accomplished gospel singer, perform the national anthem.

“I was down there just as a subtle sign of respect and appreciation,” Sandler said, suggesting that Beasley’s faith can be seen — in a simple way — in his personal interactions. “He really treats people in a way that I think the people up above would be proud of.”

In 1 Chronicles, an obscure Bible character named Jabez asks God to bless him and enlarge his territory — a request that inspired a best-selling book by Bruce Wilkinson in 2000.

Before his cancer diagnosis, Beasley said he—like Jabez—asked God to enlarge his territory.

“Sometimes, you get what you ask for,” the coach said. “My platform has been increased, and my territory has been enlarged by the way of going through cancer. God is receiving the glory … and I’m thankful for every door he opens and every door he closes.”

Never for a moment, Beasley said, did he doubt that God would save him from the cancer.

“I believed from day one that I would be healed,” he said. “I claimed healing in the name of Jesus.”

And now he’s back in the third base coach’s box, focused on the Rangers’ pursuit of a third straight American League West division championship. {eoa}

© 2017 Religion News Service. All rights reserved.