Becky Dvorak describes herself as healing evangelist and prophetess. She travels to speak at healing conference and seminars, and performs healing services. But to put it simply, Becky tells people about Jesus.

Years ago, the Lord gave Becky a vision of a map of United States with a tsunami wave of healing overtaking the whole nation. The Lord told her, “no longer will My people cry out, why not healing here?” God said healing will be everywhere, and not just in small pockets of healing meetings. This healing movement will break out throughout the US and into the whole world. God’s phrase to Becky, “Waves of Healing Glory,” became the title to her newest book.

As wonderful as that vision sounds, there is also a warning of a strong undercurrent of doubt and unbelief that could drag folks under, but God wants His people to ride above that wave and be willing to get wet with the Living Water. This tsunami wave of healing glory will produce unusual miracles.

Christians have healing in their hands, whether they stand behind a pulpit or not. Becky encourages believers to build their spirits up with healing scriptures and build a relationship with God to learn how to believe for healing. Because God gives us the power of life and death in our words we can say, “I have healing in my hands, and I have healing in my voice.”

A tsunami wave of the love of God is overtaking the Earth. It’s getting more and more powerful. Healing is the “dinner bell” that brings unbelievers to meetings. You can position yourself for the great harvest of souls and be available to help release God’s supernatural power across the earth. Remember, God does heal!

Marilyn Hickey founded Marilyn Hickey Ministries more than 45 years ago with God’s vision to cover the earth with the Word. Marilyn co-hosts a daily television program, Today with Marilyn & Sarah, reaching a potential viewing audience of over 2 billion households worldwide. Marilyn communicates deep biblical truths in a way that is understandable and practical for everyday life.

Sarah Bowling is on a mission to connect every one with the heart of God while loving those who are overlooked, excluded and ignored.  Led by Holy Spirit and anchored in the Word, Sarah seeks to inspire all to know the unconditional and transformational love of God in our daily lives. A Bible teacher, author, international speaker and a global humanitarian, Sarah also co-hosts a daily television program, Today with Marilyn & Sarah.

I’ve heard Christians say they wished they could live in biblical times. Well, guess what? We are now living in times the Bible calls “the end of the age” (Dan. 12:13; Matt. 24:3, 28:20). Christians in the early church faced persecution under the pagan Roman Empire, and today, many believers experience similar persecution. As Jonathan Cahn reveals in his new book, “The Return of the Gods,” which releases Sept. 6, the same evil spirits that lie behind ancient paganism have now risen in America.

I’ve known for a long time that something was seriously wrong in our culture and that it went far beyond normal societal changes or political divisions. As the Bible says, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers (see Eph. 6:12).

Cahn, author of the mega-bestseller “The Harbinger,” has a gift for helping us understand current events in light of what is happening in the spiritual realm. Like “The Harbinger,” this book, “The Return of the Gods,” carries a powerful, prophetic core message: Paganism has reappeared in the West, and we are indeed living at the end of time.

In the latest issue of “Charisma” magazine, Cahn reveals the most explosive mystery he has ever uncovered. He writes that these pagan entities, which he exposes in his book, lie behind what we see on our television screens and computer monitors; what our children are being taught in their classrooms; what drives current events, media and the movements of our times—and are now influencing our lives in ways we don’t even realize.

“Could this mystery be the explanation behind all the strange transformations happening to our culture in our own days?” he writes.

Our nation—which once prided itself as the city on a hill, a light to the world, the world’s last hope and a beacon of moral good upon the nations—is now the world’s greatest producer of pornography, blanketing the earth with the images it once condemned. Other nations now see America as a force of moral corruption, one to be guarded against rather than emulated.

The nation that once saw itself as the upholder of marriage and biblical values is increasingly waging war against those values, to the point of censoring the words “man” and “woman” as well as instructing its little boys that they may actually be little girls and, in time, surgically altering them. What has happened to America?

Cahn’s premise, which he articulated on a recent “Strang Report” podcast, is that as Western civilization has rejected its Christian roots, the spirits behind these pagan gods have returned—seven times worse than they were before. Remember what Jesus said about the man who had demons, but they were cast out and came back seven times worse? We know He was referring to more than this one man because the Bible says, “So shall it be also with this evil generation” (Matt. 12:45c).

Cahn points out the fascinating truth that the early church, which the Roman Empire tried to destroy, not only survived and outlasted its evil opponents, but that as Western civilization embraced Christianity, it exorcised those pagan religions. Cahn calls it the greatest exorcism in history. Yet the warning for America and Western civilization is this: If these ever turn away from God, the ancient spirits will return. And we are now seeing the return of the spirits—the return of the gods.

Both on my podcast and in his book, Cahn says ancient gods like Baal caused the people of God to turn to other gods. Then came the goddess of sexuality, which he calls the Enchantress (and also Ishtar), to make sex a part of their perverted worship. Finally, there was the worship of Molech, which caused parents to offer their own children as sacrifices as a way to appease the gods and give them prosperity. I can’t help but see a parallel to the wave of support for abortion today, in which many people say having children would hold them back financially.

I was one of the first to read Cahn’s book. With each page, I seemed to better understand what is happening spiritually in America. He goes into great depth in a way I can’t in a short article such as this one.

I’m passionate to get out the word about this book and help wake up the church to not only see what is happening, but to take our authority in Christ to stand against these principalities and powers. The early church did it, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can do it in our day.

We know the Bible says there will be difficult times before Christ returns (see 2 Tim. 3:1-5), and any believer watching what has happened in the past 60 years knows these are difficult times. It seems we are rushing toward the end of the age, almost like watching a horrific movie. But every moviegoer knows the final 15 minutes are the most exciting part of the story, so this is an exciting time to be alive!

None of us chose when to be born. God had a reason for each of us to be alive now. The secular culture seems to have no appreciation for what God is up to; in fact, it’s not even discussed. If anything, Christianity is seen as a hindrance to people having fun and doing whatever they want—especially those things that go against biblical principles.

We have a responsibility as believers. We know we have authority in the spiritual realm. We also know that in the end, God wins.

If you’re spiritually attuned at all, you must read this book. Not only does “The Return of the Gods” connect dots to help us understand what is going on, but it also offers hope that greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world (see 1 John 4:4).

Buy the book, read the book, share the book, write about it on social media. As far as I know, Jonathan Cahn is the first author to have this revelation about how paganism has returned, which helps explain everything from abortion to transgenderism. We all need to get the word out about this earth-shattering book.

I’m doing my part. Will you join with Rabbi Cahn and me to do yours and tell everyone you can about The Return of the Gods?

Read time: 5 minutes 36 seconds

JERUSALEM—The All Nations Convocation and Watchmen’s Tour of Israel will kick off a series of Christian events this fall when it gets underway in a few weeks with more than 1,000 pilgrims coming from overseas for two weeks of prayer, fasting and worship in Jerusalem.

And after having to cancel the event the past two years due to Israel’s COVID closures, Tom Hess—founder of the Jerusalem House of Prayer for All Nations (JHOPFAN)—and his wife, Kate—director of The King’s Harp Program—are brimming with anticipation about this year’s gathering.

“More people are coming back now this year from all over the world and so this year our theme is ‘The King is coming,’ and it’s focused on the coming of the King and preparing the way for the coming of the King of glory,” Tom said in an interview with ALL ISRAEL NEWS. “We thank God the King is coming very soon and for the way that He’s working in these last days.”

Prior to COVID, the convocation had been held every year since 1994. Now, it could very well be the largest in-person Christian event since Israel reopened in March.

The 2022 convocation will make up for lost time both in its scope and its message. For starters, the event will feature an outdoor concert by 144 harpists on the southern steps of the Temple Mount.

Like its name, the All Nations Convocation draws participants from many nations and focuses on prayer for and from these countries with worship sessions led in different languages. Other events include a meeting at the Knesset—the Israeli parliament, guided prayer journeys to the borders of Israel and other significant locations, plus a focus on empowering and passing the baton to the next generation.

“We’re gathering mighty men and women from all the nations to come together in their 20s, to pray for a breakthrough for the next generation,” Tom said, noting that Jesus, David and Joseph attained significant spiritual milestones in their 20s and 30s. “So we’re calling forth the next generation to come and stand with Israel.”

Both Tom and Kate are directors of the JHOPFAN—where round-the-clock prayer on the Mount of Olives did not skip a beat even during the pandemic.

“We’ve been doing 24/7 nonstop here in Jerusalem …it’s never stopped for 35 years, even through COVID,” Tom said, “But every year, for 10 days, we move this to Ramat Rachel Hotel, and we do a global last-days upper room, based on the 12 gates of Jerusalem. So people come from every gateway and their first responsibility they have in the convocation is they do a two-hour watch in their gateway.”

With less than a month until the event, the convocation’s registration is almost at pre-pandemic levels but probably will not reach that due to COVID lockdowns in China. Delegates from China usually comprise 25 to 30% of the convention’s participants.

Seventy governmental leaders are scheduled to join and other speakers and worship leaders include Cindy Jacobs and Beckah Shae from the United States; Heidi Baker from Mozambique; Jobst Bittner from Germany; Dr. Niko from Indonesia; Joshua Aaron from Israel; Afeef Halasah from Jordan; Maksim Asenov from Bulgaria; John Mulinde from Uganda. (See here for details)

The convocation begins with the biblical Feast of Trumpets—celebrated as Rosh Hashanah in Israel—and continues through Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and ends right before the Feast of Tabernacles.

“It’s a picture of the last days of this great ingathering that’s happening, both of Israel—the Jews returning to Israel – and the nations as well, coming up to the mountain of the Lord,” Kate said referring to Isaiah 2 and Zechariah 8. “We’re just so excited to be a part of what God is doing. It’s not what we’re doing, but what God is doing in our days. And we want everyone else to be a part of what God is doing in this time in history.”

Participants also stand with Israel and the Jewish people by fasting during Yom Kippur—along with the rest of the nation.

“We see them not only as Jewish feasts, but they are biblical feasts because they are from the Bible. So we believe that all nations are called to join into the end of the feast, the feasts of the Lord,” Tom said. “We’re getting ready for the coming of the King of glory and when He comes, He is going to take us off of a Gentile calendar and He’s going to put us on a biblical calendar.”

He noted the significant events in Jesus’ life in the Bible are paralleled by the feasts.

“Now we live in a dynamic where the next feasts to be fulfilled are the Feast of Trumpets and Yom Kippur and then the Feast of Tabernacles,” Hess said.

MAKING MUSIC TO THE LORD WITH THE HARP

Kate has been training harpists in Davidic worship for 12 years now. In Israel, these musicians have been ministering in hospitals as well as the annual convocations. But for this one, they are taking it up a notch, Kate said.

“Every year on the opening night, we usually have 24 harpists as a symbol of what’s happening in heaven, the 24 elders. But this year we’re going out there, going out on a limb—we felt that the Lord gave us a much larger number,” Kate explained, referring to the 144 musicians who will play on the southern steps of the temple where Peter preached and 3,000 people received the Lord on Pentecost.

During COVID, Kate hosted monthly harp training sessions online—which has since led to hundreds of people going on to train others on the harp.

“It’s been an incredible journey of preparation and we are just really excited to receive all the nations again and to be there on site with Israelis and many nations joined together. It’s really a picture of when you are talking about the ‘end times’ because we know before the end is the final ingathering,” Kate continued.

“The first fruits was Pentecost, but now we’re coming to this final period where we see Israel and the nations are coming together and the fullness is coming and this latter harvest, the greater harvest that is coming.”

The All Nations Convocation and Watchmen’s Tour of Israel takes place Sept. 25 to Oct. 9. To register or for more information contact: ancj@ or check the website. To learn more about the House of Prayer, see the JHOPAN website. {eoa}

All Israel News Staff, The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.

This article originally appeared on ALL ISRAEL NEWS and is reposted with permission.

John promised that Jesus would baptize us with the Holy Spirit and fire! (Luke 3:16).

Jesus continues to pour out the Holy Spirit upon His people all over the world. This includes the fire that comes with the Spirit.  When I was recently in Cuba doing crusades and ministry in the Las Tunas District, the fire of God came upon us in many wonderful ways. This Holy Fire is still spreading through their churches.

Holy Fire can mean many things to us: cleansing, authority and power, guidance, revelation, wisdom…for me it can be summed up in the presence of God. When the glory of His majesty enters the sanctuary we are drawn to worship Jesus, to give Him our love and our service. We desire to stay in His presence for we were created to be one with our Creator.

During our ministry time in Cuba, we experienced the presence of God throughout our services.  People were saved, healed, baptized in the Holy Spirit and awakened to God’s presence. The uninhibited and joyous worship drew us close to Him in praise and celebration as we read of it in heaven in Revelation 4 and 5.

Times of preaching and prayer opened our hearts to His truth and the meaning of life in Jesus as we know Him through His Word.  We ministered to hungry and thirsty people longing to be satisfied as only God can feed us the bread of life and give us living waters that express the touch of His presence.

The answers we often seek in our times of emptiness or need for forgiveness, to be awakened to the love of God and to live for His purposes, can only be known in His presence.

I had one such experience on Saturday morning at Las Tunas Church in Cuba during their fasting and prayer. The church was full of God’s people singing and praying, crying out for His presence to come to them and to Cuba.

For me His presence began just before the service. I was drawn to kneel at the front steps of the church that led up to the altar. As I knelt before our Lord to pray, His presence came upon me. I started to weep and shake as tears of cleansing expressed my need for Him to renew my inner oneness with my Lord.

I have experienced this cleansing a few times in my 42 years of following Jesus. When I first encountered Jesus and went back to church, I would sit in the service and weep these tears of cleansing as the Holy Spirit restored my soul by removing my worldly desires and sinful habits to strengthen me in my new life in Christ.

In Zambia I have known tears of cleansing.  At the end of one of our services as I preached the glory of God came upon us. At the close of the message the entire congregation and myself suddenly found ourselves lying prostrate on the floor weighted down by His glory. For a half hour or more we wept and wailed in His presence. When we finally stood together, at our feet there were puddles of tears of glory.

When our service in Las Tunas started I stood to worship our King Jesus. This led to prayer and then to preaching by one of my ministry partners Kenneth Bennet, who gave an impassioned word on running the race to the end with strength and endurance in the Spirit.

At some point the weight of God’s glory began to press upon me. His presence grew stronger and stronger until I could no longer stand. I went and knelt at the same spot I had been earlier. God’s weighted glory kept pressing down upon me.

I could not kneel with my arms holding my upper body any longer. I lay flat on the top stair as He kept pushing down on me. I was being crushed by the weight of His glory on my chest, but it was not a hurting experience. Instead, He was crushing all of the inner division out of me.

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that our greatest problem is we try to serve two masters. We were created to serve only one Master. God made us in His image. The Lord our God is One! Jesus prayed that we would be one as He and His Father are one.

I submitted to His presence and His work of grace as throughout the service I lay in glory. When the service ended, I could not move. I was a man undone as Isaiah was in his vision of the Lord of Hosts, Jesus Christ, in Isaiah 6.

Most of the people left the sanctuary. I remained without moving. I was crushed, but not in pain. I was light and free inside. God had removed the inner division from me. I was one within and one with God. My friends came to help me stand, but I did not want to lose this sense of His glory. I desired to linger in His presence.

Finally, they helped me stand. They half carried me as we walked out of the sanctuary. I was weak, but free in the Spirit of God. My flesh was crucified as His Spirit filled me.

I believe this is what God is doing in Las Tunas preparing His people to carry the Holy Fire of His message of life to a people without hope and dead in their false ideology of secular humanism. You cannot replace the Creator with the creature as Paul writes in Romans 1 without terrible judgment.

This is the state of much of the world today. The nations have been seduced into a theology of man without God. We can create our own gateway to God, so we have redefined God in our image.

Entertainment in the church or in our culture cannot fill the void of God’s presence. Humanity’s new Babel of self-idolatry in social media and in every fabric of our culture has pushed away the presence of God. We have replaced the shields of gold with bronze imitations as the Jews did after Jerusalem was sacked. They acted as though nothing had changed.

Jesus is coming soon. He is preparing His people for His return by Holy Fire, reminding us of our need for His presence. This is the most precious gift of all, the pearl of great price. May our hunger for Jesus draw in His presence to prepare us to meet Him in His glory.

Our King’s return is imminent. Are you ready? Seek Him with all of your heart. This needs to be a desperate longing that only God can give you and fulfill. Put to death your love for the world and put on Christ to love the Father as Jesus loves Him. His presence will come in His glory, to renew His oneness as He is doing in Las Tunas, Cuba.

Blake Lorenz was raised in the church but never knew Jesus Christ. His god was himself and sports. After he was released from the Chicago Cubs organization, he says his life fell to pieces. In this crisis he cried out to Jesus and gave Him his life. He came into his room and he literally met Jesus Christ. He surrounded him with His love and told him to go into the world to call people to follow Him. He says God has blessed him to be a pastor and evangelist for 38 years in Central Florida and around the world. He just released a new novel called “Greater Love,” which can be purchased on Amazon. All proceeds go to our mission and evangelism ministries across the world.

When speaking at the recent Turning Point USA Faith event in San Diego, Calif., Pastor Shane Idleman made this eye-opening statement for not only pastors, but the entire body of Christ:

“Pastors, without boldness and brokenness, we will accomplish little. Leonard Ravenhill once said, ‘You must weep before you whip.'”

Idleman is obviously looking forward to a Great Awakening in the body in the near future, but he says revival won’t come without a cost and that believers must surrender to the Cross to bring about such a revival.

“If it took praying and fasting to get the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, let me submit to you that it’s going to take prayer, fasting, brokenness and humility to maintain it,” Idleman says. “Don’t fall into the trap that ‘God can’t use me.’ Seek the heart of God and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

“People call me political. I preach the gospel and I stand up for difficult things. If you stand up for the truth, you will be political. Get over it. That’s a badge of honor. Politics just means leading a group or governing people. God’s Word has plenty to say about that. … We want to make a difference in our culture, but you have to have boldness and humility.”

Click here to watch the video for the rest of Pastor Idleman’s incredible message.

At least three keys are needed to open heavens, minds, and doors for revival breakthrough:

Prayer and fasting

God’s presence

Prophetic revelation

I believe each of these aspects can be demonstrated biblically and historically regarding the elements that precede revival. Let’s briefly look at all three elements.

Key No. 1: Prayer and Fasting

Prayer with fasting is a powerful key to making an opening for breakthrough. One of my favorite revival testimonies comes from the 1949–52 Hebrides Revival. The Hebrides is a set of islands off the northwest coast of Scotland.

Two sisters, Peggy and Christine Smith, eighty-four and eighty-two years old, respectively, were desperate for revival on Isle of Lewis, where they lived. They had experienced historic revival previously, so they knew how to pray according to the Scriptures.

They reminded God of His word from Isaiah 44:3: “For I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants.”

Every day, Peggy and Christine prayed the promises of God for the residents of their village of Barvas. They interceded for an open heaven and revival.

As they prayed the Word, they began to claim an open-heaven verse, Isaiah 64:1: “Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and come down, that the mountains would quake at Your presence.”

One morning, Peggy, who was blind, received a vision from God of “the churches crowded with people, including many young people, and hundreds being swept into the kingdom. She saw the Lamb in the midst of the throne with the keys of heaven in his hand (Rev. 5:6; Matt. 16:18).”

That evening, the Spirit of God fell on seven young men gathered in a barn who had asked God to purify their lives and who had been praying for months from Isaiah 62:6–7.

So, while Peggy and Christine were praying, and Peggy had a visitation, and while a little band of young men was in a barn offering prayers according to Isaiah 62, the Spirit fell on those young men. Sure enough, God came.

It was the joining of generations to such an extent that Peggy “sent word to Rev. MacKay [her pastor] that God had shown her He was going to send a mighty revival. She asked him to call together the elders and deacons of the church for special times of waiting on God for revival.”

Rev. MacKay sought someone who could lead revival meetings. Soon, evangelist Duncan Campbell was called to come help with the revival. Campbell would stay for three years.

This ingredient of revival—a prayerful desperation to see God move in our midst—is always within me, and it can be within you too.

Our hearts are God’s altar, and, like the fire for the burnt offering at the tabernacle, His fire is supposed to be kept continually burning on the altar; it should never go out. (See Leviticus 6:8–13.) Those two elderly women on the Isle of Lewis knew God’s Word and prayed God’s Word; likewise, we should know and pray the Word.

It is said that, in the Hebrides Islands Revival, a type of “spiritual radiation zone” was created. When people walked into that zone, they would come under experiential conviction of sin, and many souls were saved.

That is revival breakthrough—and it was preceded by prayer. It’s time for prayer to arise that will blow the roofs off houses worldwide with God’s glory.

Key No. 2: God’s Presence

The one outstanding and distinguishing characteristic of God’s people is His presence among us. After Moses asked God, “Please, show me Your glory!” (Exodus 33:18), God revealed His glorious presence to him. Just as Moses did, let us ask God for a manifestation of His presence:

Then [Moses] said to [the Lord], “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.”… The Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.” Then Moses said, “Please, show me Your glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion to whom I will show compassion.” (Exodus 33:15, 17–19)

We need the presence of God more than anything in this life.

Let me share a significant dream I experienced in January 1999 that enabled me to better understand how we are to invite His presence.

For the rest of this article, visit .

Dr. James W. Goll is the founder of God Encounters Ministries. He is an international bestselling author, a certified Life Language Coach, an adviser to leaders and ministries and a recording artist. James has traveled around the world ministering in more than fifty nations sharing the love of Jesus, imparting the power of intercession, prophetic ministry, and life in the Spirit. He has recorded numerous classes with corresponding curriculum kits and is the author of more than fifty books, including The Seer, The Prophet, The Discerner, The Lost Art of Intercession and Praying with God’s Heart. James is also the founder of GOLL Ideation LLC, where creativity, consulting, and leadership training come together.

I love to read and meditate on Paul’s farewell speech to the Ephesian elders and his reference to the transforming power and potency of his personal example. It marks his heart for the elders, who were appointed to care for the churches.

“We will have many memories of our time together in Ephesus; but of all the memories, most of all I want you to remember my way of life” (Acts 20:18b, VOICE).

“You must be on guard, and you must remember my way of life among you…” (Acts 20:31b).

“Remember my example: I never once coveted a single coin of silver or gold. I never looked twice at someone’s fine clothing. No, you know this: I worked with my own two hands making tents, and I paid my own expenses and my companions’ expenses as well. This is my last gift to you, this example of a way of life: a life of hard work, a life of helping the weak, a life that echoes every day those words of Jesus our King, who said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:33-35).

In a day when spiritual leaders place great emphasis on positions, titles and degrees, these Scriptures are a sober reminder of the true portion of an apostle and/or an elder. I believe every apostle and elder in the body of Christ needs to read and meditate on these sections of Scripture on a regular basis.

How many are ready to stand in line and be counted among the ranks of those whom Jesus calls apostles and elders?

Peter’s Example

Now let’s look at the personal witness of the Lord that the apostle Peter possessed.

For I want to remind you that when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, we were relying on what our eyes had seen of His glorious majesty, not on cleverly told fables. You see, God the Father lavished honor and glory upon Jesus when the voice of the Majestic Glory echoed from heaven and said, “This is My beloved Son, and My favor rests on Him.” We witnessed this—we ourselves heard this voice from heaven—when we were with Jesus on that holy mountain. We have a fuller confirmation of the message of the prophets. You would do well to pay close attention to this word; it is like a light that shines for you in the darkness of night until the day dawns when the morning star rises in your own hearts (2 Pet. 1:16-19, emphasis added).

Peter was an apostle and an elder in the body of Christ. In his great epistle he seems to write as an aged man and expounds on the theme of suffering, which, like Paul, he had become familiar with. How well we endure suffering and hardship is all in direct relation to Christ’s reality and abiding presence in our lives and ministry. Your personal conviction of who Christ is to you is the great secret to your own personal destiny and the fulfillment of God’s plan for your life.

Peter understood that his role in the body of Christ as an apostle and fellow elder was to be an example of Christ’s sufferings and a standard bearer of what it means to be a true bond-slave of Jesus Christ. Peter also admonished the other elders to lead well.

Instructions for Elders

“The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away” (1 Pet. 5:1-4, NKJV).

When true apostles lead by Christlike example, then the standard is clear for the elders to imitate and follow their example. Peter’s instructions included these high points:

1. Be shepherds of the flock under your care.

2. Watch over the sheep out of willingness and not just duty.

3. Serve with eagerness and never for dishonest gain.

4. Never operate like a boss who lords over the ones under their care.

5. Be an example to the flock with the way you live your life.

I especially love the reference to Jesus, the Chief Shepherd. The sheep are His sole possession because He alone purchased them with His own blood (Acts 20:28). Every elder, shepherd and overseer or bishop must always remember that. The sheep ultimately belong to Him, not you. Care for them with this thought always in mind.

“Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine” (1 Tim. 5:17, MEV).

The double honor here is both respect and money. The elders who serve well are worthy of respect and being well supported financially.

Although in the Western church there are many fine examples of true apostles and elders, their image has been tainted. For the most part, they do not carry an adornment of glory through sacrificial living, as embodied by the early apostles and other choice servants of God, especially in persecuted lands. We owe it to them to identify with them in their sufferings and to live wholly consecrated lives unto the Lord. He is worthy of the reward of His sacrifice. {eoa}

Bert Farias’ books are forerunners to personal holiness, the move of God and the return of the Lord. They also combat the departure from the faith and turning away from the truth we are seeing in this hour. His current passion is to promote a culture of the supernatural manifestations and ministries of the Holy Spirit in the church today and to pass it on to the next generation. Passing on the Move of God to the Next Generation and The Coming Restoration are a simple blueprint for what the Lord Jesus is doing in His church today. Bert’s newest release is now available on Kindle and paperback. Other materials/resources are available on his website, Holy Fire Ministries. You can also follow him on YouTube (Holy Fire Ministries), Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Following are snippets of the top stories posted over the past week on . We encourage you to visit the links to read the stories in full.

The Village Church Lead Pastor Matt Chandler announced Sunday during a church service that he was taking an indefinite leave of absence from preaching and teaching after he revealed that he had an inappropriate online relationship with a woman.

During his few minutes on stage, Chandler said that the relationship was not sexual or romantic, but that the church eldership was concerned about the frequency and familiarity of the messages between he and the woman on Instagram.

Chandler, 48, aid he was in total agreement with the elders’ decision to have him step aside for a while, but that he is “the lead pastor of this church, and I plan on being the lead pastor at this church for the next 20 years.”

Shia LaBeouf is no stranger to controversy, and has discovered the world is a dark place without God.

In the past, and recently, LaBeouf has been in hot water for a laundry list of reasons. The actor made his first big splash as a child star in the hit Disney show Even Stevens, and has been caught in a myriad troubling situations. He was once arrested in Walgreens and was charged with assault at an anti-Trump protest. He was in a dark place in his life before filming of his latest movie began.

During an interview with Word on Fire Catholic Ministries’ Bishop Robert Barron, LaBeouf explained how he had been at the end of his rope, and was contemplating suicide:

Those who live by Christian values have always had values non-believers didn’t understand. As a kid my church condemned smoking, drinking, dancing and other things non-Pentecostals couldn’t understand. I guarantee the pulpit committee didn’t consider any pastor who did any of those things.

Over the years, the secular world has pretty much ignored religious nuts who could not only live such a rigid lifestyle, but sing and clap and pray loudly, often in unknown tongues. That’s if we didn’t interfere with what they liked doing. One hundred years ago the Christian taboo against drinking was so strong it resulted in the 18th amendment passed Jan. 16, 1919, what we call “Prohibition.” It was enormously unpopular and was repealed on Dec. 5, 1933.

We could use other examples but fast-forward to now where the general society wants to end unwanted pregnancies even though Christians call that killing an unborn baby. They want free-rein on any sort of sexuality whether it’s the grossest pornography, homosexuality and now even transgenderism. So who stands against those things? It’s not just Christians because sadly many who call themselves Christians compromise on those and other things. It’s Bible-believing Christians who not only live it but put it in their codes of conduct.

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Famous Comedian Drops Hollywood in Glenn Beck Interview

Rob Schneider has made a resurgence in his career, and it’s not in comedy.

Once considered the sidekick in Adam Sandler movies, and scoring a few lead roles in films for himself, Schneider has emerged as a voice of reason among the Hollywood elites.

Glenn Beck hosted the comedian on his podcast, and viewers were amazed at how relatable and well-read Schneider came across.

Should We Fast for a Great Awakening?

On April 21, 2007, the Lord woke me up at midnight and spoke a lengthy word to me about America. I have read over these words often over the years since then, and I’ve seen parts of this prophecy unfold. I am waiting for the ultimate fulfillment. I heard the Lord say:

“There is a Great Awakening coming to this nation. For I have heard your cries and I long to heal your land … Only those things which can be shaken, will be shaken that the sin in the land may be laid bare.

“Repentance. I require repentance from My people who have through the generations allowed the enemy to take ground in this nation. I require repentance for the abortions and for the prayerlessness. I require repentance for the apathy and for the idolatry. You shall have no other gods before me. I am indeed the God of America.

Spirit-Filled Pastor: ‘There is a Cost to Revival’

When speaking at the recent Turning Point USA Faith event in San Diego, Calif., Pastor Shane Idleman made this eye-opening statement for not only pastors, but the entire body of Christ:

“Pastors, without boldness and brokenness, we will accomplish little. Leonard Ravenhill once said, ‘You must weep before you whip.'”

Idleman is obviously looking forward to a Great Awakening in the body in the near future, but he says revival won’t come without a cost and that believers must surrender to the Cross to bring about such a revival. {eoa}