When the world sees the barbaric acts of ISIS, there tends to be talk of either war or hopelessness and defeat. Despite the evil, some Christians say God is at work in areas where darkness seems to reign.

As ISIS conquered parts of northern Iraq and persecuted Christian minorities, the Gospel actually began to spread.

“So besides the darkness coming in, trying to get the salt and light out—killing lives and bringing so much pain and suffering—on the other hand, we’re seeing the rise of the presence of God, worship, prayer, experiencing Jesus and people being open to the Gospel and being open to follow Him, even from Muslim background,” one man named Fabian, who asked that his full name not be disclosed, told CBN News.

Supernatural Encounters

Fabian leads a house of prayer in Kurdistan. He said he’s met a number of people who’ve had supernatural encounters with Jesus.

“People in these streets and in these refugee camps, from places where ISIS has occupied, even people from here are encountering Jesus in dreams and visions,” Fabian said.

Those divine encounters are not limited to ISIS-controlled areas. It’s a phenomenon happening throughout the Middle East.

CBN News met with some Iranians visiting Kurdistan who wanted to share their stories. We concealed their identities for their own protection.

“Suddenly, one of the nights when I was in my bed, I just dreamed and the Light was speaking as I’m speaking to you now,” A woman we’ll call “Abby” told CBN News. “It was speaking to me and calling my name verbally and saying ‘Come to me. I will save you and I will rescue you.'” 

“But I didn’t understand, actually, how this could be. Others in the dream said, ‘Come with us, please do not hesitate. Come to us and we will rescue you.’ I believed in the dream, but I didn’t surrender my whole life to the source of the light, which was Christ,” she explained.

That decision soon followed for “Abby” and her mother. 

“This year, about seven months ago, we made our own decision to follow Jesus with all our hearts,” she continued.

“When we came here, they gave us an explanation about the life of Christ and the Kingdom of God according to the Gospel,” she said. “Here we realized the dream that I dreamed was Jesus. He is calling us to give us salvation and to give us rest, to give us life.”

CBN News asked what dangers Abby faces back in Iran.

“If people knew about my faith, I would be rejected by the people,” she said. “This is a kind of social persecution. If the government knew about my faith, I would be executed or hanging in the street at once.”

Being ‘Reborn’

Another woman, “Barbara,” began to read the New Testament.

“When I first started to read the Gospel, a power came out through the Bible to my heart,” she explained. “It was just like a small rock in the middle of a sea, yes, of the sea … a power came into my life and I felt that I’m not the same person.”

“I’m about to reborn and coming out from something very dead, very bad and something that happened to me is unique,” she said.

Then came her dream. 

“One of the nights when I went to my bed I saw, I saw Jesus,” she continued. “He was talking about me in heaven—about the Kingdom of God. When I saw Jesus, He was pointing out to me. Later He told me that I had to read the Gospel in order to strengthen my faith and be able to share my faith with my friends.”

“I didn’t see actually His face, but I saw His form, you know,” she recalled. “He was a King and His kingdom—or His kingship rule—was over the whole universe and everybody was bowing down to Him. He was talking about His kingdom and I was one of those who stood before Him.”

CBN News asked Barbara how she feels now.

“I feel I have a very huge, big treasure. As much as I’m giving away from it, more comes back to it,” she said.

“You know Iran is a very dangerous place. If you don’t think just like the others or the majority, you’d be considered as a rebel,” she said. “So that means you will choose your fate or your death by your own hand.”

Life-Changing Decision

“Claire” came to faith through a scripture and a friend.

“When I was reading the Bible, I couldn’t ask others to give an explanation about the passage that I’m reading, but then I went to university,” she said.

“During the studying at the university, I met an Armenian girl. I asked her so many questions concerning Christianity: How do they live? How do they worship? – Many things like that about the Christian life,” she explained.

“She answered my questions and that introduction caused me to make my own decision,” she said.

That decision changed her life.

“You know the faithful Christ brought me many blessings,” Claire continued. “I cannot describe faithful Jesus in some words. But things which I cannot say in some words have happened to me.”

“Whenever I’m praying and I’m lifting up my feelings in my heart to God, I do believe and I feel the hand of God touching my heart and shaking my heart,” she said.

The King’s Crown

A man we’ll call “Dennis” also had a dream.

“In the dream, I still remember some marks on His face and that He was wearing a crown, a King’s crown on His head,” he recalled. “Very strong brightness came out of each part of His Body and many people were bowing down before Him.”

“I still live on the memory of that dream. It’s still alive in me and it’s with me every day,” he said. “I remember in my mind the sense that I saw in Heaven. He’s showed me many different things since I believed in Jesus. But that dream became a turning point in my life.”

CBN News asked if others are coming to Jesus inside Iran.

“Yes, many people are coming to Christ through a dream. You cannot imagine how Jesus is appearing to them. I experienced with my own eyes that everybody is looking for a home; looking for the truth,” Dennis said.

“You know the experience that the Iranian people are passing through right now is very difficult. The only one who can change that situation is Christ Himself,” he said.

“So please pray and ask the others to pray for the people of Iran to experience the power of the Resurrection,” he said.

Fastest-Growing Church

Iranian mullahs try to quench Christianity in their Islamic Republic. Despite those efforts, missionaries say Iran has one of the fastest growing churches in the world.

While politics and extremists rearrange the Middle East, Fabian and others say the Holy Spirit is working at a much higher level to change lives.

“The harvest is very ripe and people are desperate. They have lost everything. They are in pain. They need help and they are ready to listen and people need to know that,” Fabian said.

“That, yes, there’s many bad people that want to kill and destroy, but there’s so much more people who are desperate for answers in life,” Fabian said.

“And we, as the light and salt, we need to be here for such a time as this,” he said. “To be His voice and be His Hand and bring the Gospel of the Kingdom to their lives.”

It is an old adage that “hurt people hurt people.”

Those who have been emotionally damaged tend to inflict their hurt and pain on other people. For example, a large percentage of those who have been sexually abused become the abusers of others; those who suffered under an alcoholic parent often themselves cause their future family to suffer because of their drunken stupors.

Until we as a church deal with the whole person as shown in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, our congregations will be filled with people who are spiritually gifted but act like emotional infants. As in other words, the church must deal with emotional health and not just spiritual health and power.

The following are common traits hurt people display in their interactions with others.

1. Hurt people often transfer their inner anger onto their family and close friends

Often those around them become the recipients of harsh tones and fits of rage because they have unknowingly become the vicarious recipients of transferred rage.

2. Hurt people interpret every word spoken to them through the prism of their pain

Because of their pain, ordinary words are often misinterpreted to mean something negative toward them. Therefore, they are extremely sensitive and act out of pain instead of reality.

3. Hurt people interpret every action through the prism of their pain

Their emotional pain causes them to suspect wrong motives or evil intent behind other people’s actions towards them.

4. Hurt people often portray themselves as victims and carry a “victim spirit”

Often hurt people can cry “racism,” “sexism,” “homophobia,” or often use the words “unjust” or “unfair” to describe the way they are being treated, even if there is no truth to this. That is not to say that sometimes there really is racism or sexism in some instances; this is just used as an example.

Hurt people have a hard time entering into a trusting relationship. Hurt people often carry around a suspicious spirit.

5. Hurt people often alienate others and wonder why no one is there for them

They often continually hurt the ones they love and need the most with their self-destructive behavior.

6. Hurt people have the emotional maturity of the age they received their (un-dealt with) hurt

For example, if a girl was raped by a man when she was 12 years old, unless she forgives that man and allows Christ to heal her heart and allay her fears, in that particular area of her life (sexuality with a man) her emotional growth will stop. Even when she reaches her later years, she may still have the emotional maturity of a 12 year-old.

7. Hurt people are often frustrated and depressed because past pain continually spills over into their present consciousness

In many instances, they may not even be aware of why they are continually frustrated or depressed because they have coped with pain by compartmentalizing it or layering it over with other things over time.

8. Hurt people often erupt with inappropriate emotion because particular words, actions, or circumstances “touch” and “trigger” past woundedness

I have been in situations with people in which there was a gross overreaction to a word I spoke or an action that was taken. Although I was shocked and thought this reaction came “out of left field,” it was really the person responding to an accumulation of years of hurt and pain that could not help but spill over in various situations.

I myself have been in situations where I felt hurt, troubled, or where I overreacted to something because it touched a nerve with what I was still dealing with because of a wound I received in the past. In these situations I have attempted to reason through the situation as objectively as I could with much prayer and introspection so I would not say or do anything damaging to another person or myself.

9. Hurt people often occupy themselves with busyness, work, performance, and/or accomplishments as a way of compensating for low self-esteem

Often, ministers are not motivated by a love for Jesus, but by a drive to accomplish.

It is important that pastors and ministers be led by the Spirit instead of being driven to succeed.

A minister should not preoccupy himself with making things happen. He or she should walk in integrity and humility and allow God to open up doors and provide a ministerial platform according to their assignment for their life and ministry.

10. Hurt people often attempt to medicate themselves with excessive entertainment, drugs, alcohol, pornography, sexual relationships, or hobbies as a way to forget their pain and run from reality

Until the church learns to deal with and emphasize the emotional life and health of the believer, the church will be filled with half-Christians who pray and read the Bible but find no victory because they do not face the woundedness in their souls.

11. Hurt people have learned to accommodate their private “false self” or “dark side” which causes them to be duplicitous and lack integrity

Often their private life is different from their public life, which causes hypocrisy and compounds feelings of guilt, condemnation, and depression.

12. Hurt people are often self-absorbed with their own pain and are unaware that they are hurting other people

They are often insensitive to other people because their emotional pain limits their capacity for empathy and their capacity for self-awareness.

I have been in numerous situations when someone hurt me and kept on going in the relationship without ever apologizing because they had no clue what they were doing.

13. Hurt people are susceptible to demonic deception

I am convinced that most of the divisions in the church are caused by saints who lack emotional health and project their pain onto others.

Satan works in darkness and deception, and stays away from the light. Hurt people often have destructive habit-patterns that are practiced in the dark. Hence, their mind becomes a breeding ground for satanic infiltration and deception.

If the church would deal more with the emotional health of the individual, there would be less of a foothold for demonic infiltration. Also, there would be stronger relationships, stronger marriages, healthier children, and a more balanced approach to ministry with less of a chance of pastoral and congregational burnout.

14. God often purposely surfaces pain so hurt people can face reality

Whether it is because of a marriage problem, or continual personal conflicts on the job, God often allows conflict and spillover because he wants the infection to stop spreading and the person to be healed.

Often Christians are fighting the devil and blaming him for conflict when in essence God often allows conflict so that people would be motivated to dig deeper into their lives to deal with root causes of destructive thought and habit patterns.

God’s purpose for us is that we would all be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). This does not just happen with Bible studies, prayer, and times of glory but also in painful situations when we have to face what has been hurting us for many years.

I have noticed that these periods of surfacing woundedness often take place when people transition into the mid-life years of their upper thirties and later. Perhaps this is because by then they are old enough to understand by experience that there is something wrong and also that it is not too late to redeem their pain and restore relationships and maximize their purpose. Rarely is a person able or even willing to deal with and face pain when they hit their senior years (in their sixties or older). Most at this age have already become cynical, hard-hearted, and/or become so depressed they have become hopeless even though God is able to help them at any age.

15. Hurt people need to forgive to be released and restored to freedom

The Gospel of St. John 20:23 says that we have to release the sins of others if we are going to be released. This means that if we do not forgive others, then the very thing we have become victimized with will become a part of our life. For example, alcoholic fathers breed alcoholic sons if their sons do not forgive and release their fathers.

The good news is that, through the efficacious blood of Christ, we can all be healed and set free from all past hurts so we can comfort others with the same comfort we ourselves have received from God (2 Corinthians 1:4).

Truly our mess can become our message!

Over the last season I’ve been pressing into worship and enjoying more of the presence of the Lord. I’ve also been having wonderful outings with my beautiful wife and children. I keep thinking, how can I bring more encouragement and assist in the expansion of the kingdom of God in this hour?

Yet, every time things begin to advance, feet start dragging and someone “slams on the brakes.” Bible-believing Christians are supposed to be talking about “doing life together” and growing in the purposes of God. Yet, most are continually distracted by politics, fear and apocalyptic end-time scenarios. 

I sincerely desire to laugh, love, and leave a legacy, but it can be extremely difficult. Many so-called “prophets” are talking about societal breakdown and catastrophe. In their sensationalist best-sellers, they claim to have witnessed the “signs of the times.” 

This is so prominent that a message of “good news” and hope is extremely difficult to find these days (and sometimes it’s even rejected).

You probably already know this, but this isn’t the only generation that has made these claims. In fact, over the last century there have been countless assertions about “harbingers” and “signs of the apocalypse.” Leaders in previous eras also insisted they deciphered the book of Revelation and understood the alarming headlines. 

So, the pessimistic, cataclysmic claims aren’t new. They’re actually part of the lengthy tradition of anxiety and failed prognostications. In fact, speculative predictions about the end have characterized American Christianity for at least three generations. One would like to think that this madness would ultimately cease, but it never really does. I’ve found that people keep making these kinds of end-time assertions.

Yet, an honest analysis would show the “track record” isn’t good. Thousands of “undeniable” claims in previous decades were proven to be wrong. Let me remind you of some of the things affirmed in the past. 

A Century Of Failed Predictions

At the start of the First World War, the Weekly Evangel, a wide-reaching Fundamentalist publication, boldly affirmed that, “The war preliminary to Armageddon, it seems, has commenced.” Less than two years later S.D. Gordon, a popular devotional writer, insisted that the “end of the world” would  

“occur in our generation. That is to say that the man of average age now living, and all younger, barring the usual accidents of sickness and death, will witness the tremendous climax and transition.” 

These mistaken beliefs weren’t exclusive to the early 20th century. There were many similar claims made during World War II. In fact, it got even worse in the midst of the Cold War paranoia that erupted during the Eisenhower administration. In 1958, one of the more noted of the Salvation-Healing evangelists proclaimed, 

“Jesus is coming soon … John the Baptist is preaching again! Have you heard John preach lately? I have. You are hearing one of them now.”

Apocalyptic predictions expanded significantly during the 1970s and 1980s. For example, in 1970, Hal Lindsey, made a nuanced prediction that the rapture would take place in 1981—seven years prior to Israel’s fortieth anniversary (leaving seven years for the “Great Tribulation”). Explaining his outlook Lindsey wrote:

“A generation in the Bible is something like forty years. If this is a correct deduction, then within forty years or so of 1948, all these things could take place. Many scholars who have studied Bible prophecy all their lives believe that this is so … The most important sign in Matthew has to be the restoration of the Jews to the land in the rebirth of Israel. Even the figure of speech ‘fig tree’ has been a historic symbol of national Israel. When the Jewish people, after nearly 2,000 years of exile, under relentless persecution, became a nation again on 14 May 1948 the ‘fig tree’ put forth its first leaves. Jesus said that this would indicate that He was ‘at the door,’ ready to return. Then He said, ‘Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place’ (Matthew 24:34, NASB). What generation? Obviously, in context, the generation that would see the signs-chief among them the rebirth of Israel.”

Obviously nothing of any biblical significance happened in 1981—and for that matter nothing noteworthy occurred seven years later. It was presumed that in 1988, during the fortieth anniversary of Israel’s re-establishment, strategic end-time events would transpire. Countless futurists were predicting the rapture or other apocalyptic scenarios, but they were greatly mistaken. 

In his hastily written book titled, 88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be In 1988, Edgar C. Whisenant argued that the rapture of the Christian church would occur between September 11-13, 1988. He noted,

“Only if the Bible is in error am I wrong, and I say unequivocally. There is no way Biblically that I can be wrong; and I say that to every preacher in town … if there were a king in this country and I could gamble with my life, I would stake my life on Rosh Hashana 1988.”

After his September prediction failed to materialize, Whisenant changed his termination date to Rosh Hashanah 1989—publishing The Final Shout: Rapture Report 1989. This is a pattern that Whisenant would later repeat in 1993 and 1994. Despite his impassioned pleas, the rapture and his cataclysmic understanding of the end-times never manifested. As the year 1988 (as well as 1989, 1993, and 1994) passed without major incident, apocalyptic teachers looked ahead to 2007—the fortieth anniversary of Israel reclaiming Jerusalem (1967). With this pivotal date in the cross-hairs, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins noted the following:

“If we use the 1948 or the 1967 date, apply the span of a person’s lifetime (give or take ten years for the person to ‘see’ and comprehend the events), then subtract seven or more years for the Tribulation and an interim period between the Rapture and the signing of the covenant with Israel, we come to the same time period for the return of the Lord that many others have suggested … our generation.”

Nevertheless, to the dismay of Dispensational Premillennialists, 2007 also passed without incident. Despite their feverish insistence, the apocalypse clearly didn’t transpire within a “generation” of 1948 or 1967. Because of this, many who held a cataclysmic view were forced to rethink what a “generation” really was. Some now suggesting that it is a 70 or 100 year span. They’re open to most any adaption, with the single exception of rethinking their erroneous end-time worldview.

What Do We Make Of This?

Failed end-time predictions were undoubtedly widespread over the last century. As these prognostications didn’t pan out, the proponents simply made readjustments and looked for new historical developments. Ongoing catastrophes and civil unrest were exploited to distract from previous errors in calculations.

Just as soon as one termination date passed, another conveniently came into view. I believe those who have made failed end-time predictions must be accountable to the body of Christ for their mistakes. They should be held responsible for their wrong interpretations and the disruptions it has caused. Yet, this is rather difficult to do.  

In early 1977, when Hal Lindsey was asked by a journalist from Christianity Today what he would do if he was wrong about his end-time predictions, he responded with the following, 

“There is a split second’s difference between a hero and a bum. I didn’t ask to be a hero, but I guess I have become one in the Christian community. So I accept it. But if I am wrong about this, I guess I’ll become a bum.” 

Though undeniably wrong about his end-time predictions over the last 46 years, Lindsey still hasn’t referred to himself as a “bum.” It’s not necessary for this to happen, yet a simple apology might be nice. So in light of all this, what should be the response?

Some would say the only problem was the setting of a particular day and time. After all, Jesus affirmed, “no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows” (Matthew 24:36). Yet, is it possible that Lindsey and his fellow Dispensationalists have been wrong in more than just “date-setting?”

Could the Bible actually be affirming something different than what has been promulgated through Evangelical radio and newsprint over the last 100 years? Could a fresh reading of Scripture affirm that God is up to something more than just darkness and catastrophe? I sincerely think so. I honestly don’t know if North American Christians will ever change our darkened outlook. Yet, in the meantime we must be extremely careful.

Whether it be blood moons, the Shemitah, or widespread social duress, we need to be cautious about what we’re proclaiming. Like many others, I’d hate to see additional failed predictions. The apostle Paul said it the following way, “Stop listening to Jewish myths and the decrees of people who have turned away from the truth” (Titus 1:14). Fear, sensationalism, and esoteric readings of Scripture aren’t going to propel global missions or the expansion of the church. I hope that we can finally learn the unpleasant lesson of previous generations. A fresh understanding of the “Good News” could change everything.

God’s shown up during powerful spiritual awakenings in America’s past centuries. Many believe without another such awakening, the country could slide into a long, dark decline. But Christians who want a national revival have to realize they have a part to play first.

Christian leaders and authors who’ve been speaking and writing about a possible Third Great Awakening say it can’t happen till believers one by one get desperate, get praying and get their own hearts revived first.

Charisma Magazine Senior Editor Jennifer LeClaire writes about all this in her book, The Next Great Move of God.

“Will we use our faith? Will we pray? What will we do? I believe God is watching and I think the decisions we are making in this period are just vital,” LeClaire told CBN News.

It’s not something she just writes about, but actively pursues.  She joins with a number of other Christians eager for revival in a Pompano Beach, Florida, prayer room several times a week.

Time to Get Desperate

LeClaire said she’s certain God wants to move, but says, “We know that He’s waiting on His people who are called by His name to humble themselves, repent, turn from their wicked ways.”

Eddie Hyatt, a historian and pastor, has written about what it takes to ignite a Third Great Awakening in his book, America’s Revival Heritage.

“This is a very critical time and God’s people in America need to fall on their knees, fall on their face and cry out to God,” Hyatt stated.

Popular preacher Dutch Sheets travels to all 50 states and told CBN News he finds these desperate believers everywhere he goes.

“There’s nowhere I go where I don’t find a core of believers that are passionate, serious, desperate, understanding our true condition,” he said. “You have to be blind not to know that America’s in real trouble. But they are going after this thing in prayer. And that’s where it always starts.”

LeClaire agreed, saying, “When you want to see a nation transformed, it does, it starts with us. So we ask the Lord, ‘Show us Your glory, show us Your power. Lord, if there’s something in us that is in Your way, help us to get it out of Your way. We want to go full-on for You. We want to make an impact in our generation for You.  We want to do this for You.  Help us.’ God loves those prayers.” 

Invasion from Heaven

Hyatt added, “We don’t need a religious meeting that’s been worked up from below.   We need an invasion from heaven where God comes down and heaven invades earth. And God comes down and touches people’s lives.”

In his book, An Appeal to Heaven, Sheets talks in-depth about God prodding him over the last two decades to pursue a Third Great Awakening.   While depravity is obviously rising in the nation, Sheets said as he prays for revival, he’s come to a certainty sin won’t stop God from moving.

“I’m not asking based on our merits. I’m asking based on the fact that God loves to save,” he said. “While evil increases, so does the grace of God. And there can be both happening at the same time.”

Hyatt has studied how Colonial-era Christians, like Preacher Jonathan Edwards, were moved mightily by the Holy Spirit to pray long and hard for revival before the First Great Awakening swept over the colonies in the mid-1700s.

Hyatt quoted Edwards, saying, “‘When God purposes to do a thing in the earth, He first sets His people praying for the very thing that He intends to do.'”

“Give Me New England or Let Me Die”

And Edwards himself was the perfect example.

“I read that before he presented his message, ‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,’ he had been praying for 18 hours,” Hyatt said. “And he’d been crying out to God, ‘God, give me New England or let me die.'”

But Hyatt and Sheets pointed out that America, before and during its birth, was much more aware that God is real and active.

The nation went into the Revolutionary War flying a flag that said “Appeal to Heaven,” a phrase popular political philosopher John Locke used.

“What Locke said was ‘When there is no other way, there’s nothing you can do humanly speaking, you still can appeal to heaven,'” Sheets explained. “And George Washington grabbed this, put it on a flag.”

It was a nation in which even a doubter in organized religion like Ben Franklin stood up during the deadlocked Constitutional Convention of 1787 and declared the need to humbly ask God to move.

Hyatt describes the moment in his latest book, The Faith and Vision of Benjamin Franklin.

“He stands up and exhorts them and calls them to prayer,” Hyatt said of Franklin challenging the delegates. “And he quotes from Scripture.”

Sheets picked up the story from there, describing what Franklin said. “‘Look, I’ve been around a long time. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that there’s a God in heaven who rules over the affairs of men and nations. And if a sparrow can’t fall to the ground without Him knowing about it, how can a nation be born without God being a part of it? And I suggest we call upon Him.'”

Hyatt said, “According to those who were present, there was a spirit of reconciliation that seemed to come upon the gathering. They went back together and they hammered out the American Constitution.”

God Can Do It Again

All three authors believe it’s important for Christians to recall and retell such stories so all realize the God who powerfully moved in earlier awakenings can do it again now.

“When we testify to what God has done in the past, it not only builds our faith, but I believe it causes Him to move on that again,” LeClaire explained. “We’re putting Him in remembrance of what He did. We’re giving Him glory. And it shows that we have faith that He can do it again.”

Hyatt said, “At particular times in this nation’s history when it’s faced great crises, God has preserved this nation by visiting us with great spiritual awakenings.”

And LeClaire said every Christian can be a catalyst to keep this great American story going.

“Begin by looking around and seeing where God would have you,” she advised. “He’ll show you if you’ll pray. Inserting yourself in the story gives you ownership of it. It causes you to grab hold and be determined to do your part to see this Awakening come full bore.”

Hyatt’s hopeful because he sees God moving.

“He is now stirring His people and putting that desire in their hearts for the very thing that He intends to do,” he said.

Don’t Cripple Your Own Awakening

But LeClaire insisted every concerned believer must first throw off the sins and entanglements that cripple their own awakening.

“What are you thinking about the most? What are you talking about the most?” she asked.  “How do you spend your time?  How do you spend your money?  Are you sitting in front of the TV for 140 hours a month like the rest of America, according to one study?”

“Are you in your church?” she continued. “Are you evangelizing? Are you making an impact in your sphere of influence? What’s most important to you? If God doesn’t fit somewhere in those questions and answers, then you need revival.”

LeClaire read CBN News a prayer featured in her book, The Next Great Move of God, and written by Voice of Destiny radio host Larry Sparks.

She quoted, “‘Holy Spirit, come. I want to experience Your Presence and power like never before. I don’t want just a touch or a visitation or a season of revival. I want to live like Jesus said I could live. Open my eyes. Show me areas in my church, my life and my family that need to be transformed.'”

LeClaire also pointed out it’s important for Christians not to inadvertently derail a national revival by criticizing it to death.

“Every move of God looks different, so this next great move of God that’s emerging even now is going to look different than the charismatic movement or the Jesus movement,” LeClaire explained. 

“We need to discern, but we also need to not attack and criticize and judge,” she continued. “We need to all just be very in tune with the Holy Spirit.  And if we stay in tune with Him, we’ll recognize it when it’s really Him.”

LeClaire encouraged believers not to sit on the sidelines, waiting for and hoping there will be a Third Great Awakening, but to remember a core truth: Revival begins with you.

The Obama administration’s relationship with Israel may be extremely strained, but poll after poll shows that a large majority of Americans still support the Jewish state and none more so than Bible-believing Christians.

Thousands of believers recently met in San Antonio to voice their support for Israel.

Over the past month, Palestinian terrorists have carried out a wave of deadly attacks against Israeli men, women and children.

Meanwhile, Iranian forces advance in Syria near Israel’s doorstep, and they now have the Russian bear in their corner.

While enemies of Israel may be on the move, so are its friends. Thousands turned out in force deep in the heart of Texas to stand with Israel and the Jewish people.

This is the 34th consecutive year that Pastor John Hagee has held “A Night to Honor Israel” at Cornerstone Church. And this year, with the Iran nuclear deal at the forefront, the stakes could not be higher for Israel and America. 
 
“Iran will use a nuclear bomb against Israel and they will use it against America,” Pastor Hagee told CBN News. “And America is helping make it happen—and every American should be outraged by this incident.”

Sen. Tim Scott. R-S.C., echoed Hagee’s strong criticism of the Iran nuclear deal.

“In year five of the deal, the arms embargo is lifted. In year eight, they get ballistic missiles. And in year 10, they have a straight path to a nuclear weapon. That is not a deal,” Scott said.
 
Hagee also slammed Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas for his incitement of what’s being called a “Palestinian stabbing intifada” that has so far claimed the lives of at least 10 Israelis.

“What should America do to send a message to the Palestinians and Mr. Abbas, the president?” Hagee asked. “Shut off all foreign aid to the Palestinians immediately and permanently. Send a letter to them and to the Iranians saying that any attack on Israel would be an attack on the United States of America.”
 
While the message about the gathering threats was sobering, the event was anything but downbeat. It was a celebration and acknowledgement of God’s eternal covenant with Israel and the Jewish people.

“It’s an opportunity for Jews and Christians to come together in solidarity and focus not on those things that divide us but what we share,” Christians United for Israel Director David Brog told CBN News.

Sen. Scott said the Old Testament has a clear message for America regarding Israel.

“A part of the plan that God has for this amazing nation can be found in Psalms 122:6, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And those who do shall prosper,” the senator said.

John Hagee Ministries closed the night to honor Israel by awarding $3.2 million in donations to Israeli and Jewish charities, plus an ambulance. Over the years, the ministry has raised some $95 million for Israel.

Is our government intentionally allowing in Islamic State militants? 

Perhaps, says Rick Joyner. But the militants are entering the United States through the southern border, meaning the influx of immigrants are not from Mexico or other southern regions. 

“Our president cannot be this naive,” the prophetic voice says of the immigration. 

The person to stop it? Donald Trump.  

Click here to watch the video to see why. 

Russia’s recent reactivation of the “friendship and cooperation treaty” with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has prophecy students considering whether this move will prove to be significant toward ushering in the Antichrist.

Steve Magill, author of the new book Revelation and the Age of Antichrist, says “Russia’s revived treaty with Syria is important because the Antichrist will appear out of Syria. Scripture also records Russia as the feet of the Antichrist ordained to mobilize his empire.”

Magill notes that in Daniel 7 an empire with the national symbol of a bear will be on the world stage concurrently with three other empires, also known by their animal symbol. These empires are identified as a lion with eagle wings (Great Britain and the United States); a bear (Russia); and a leopard (Islam). Never in the history of the world have four empires with these animal symbols appeared on the world stage at the same time.

Revelation 13:2 describes the role each of these empires have in establishing the Antichrist’s empire. Great Britain and the United States are recorded as the Antichrist’s mouth/voice to set the agenda and lead the world toward establishing the new global world order. Russia, the bear, is recorded as the feet of the Antichrist to realign and support the Middle-East landscape. Islam, the leopard, is recorded as the body of the Antichrist’s empire to which America, Great Britain, and Russia will be attached to make the earth’s final empire, the Antichrist empire.

When Antichrist’s empire is formed, it will be the fourth, brutal beast of Daniel 7, the composite beast of Revelation 13:2, and the new world order realigning all nations into ten economic/political regions, known as the ten toes of Daniel 2:42, 7:24-25, and the ten horns of Revelation 13:1.

Russia’s Syrian aggression is one more confirmation that the last days are ending and earth’s last seven years and the age of Antichrist are at the door. It appears the feet of the Antichrist’s empire is getting ready to attach itself to Islam, the body of the Antichrist.

The Bible has plenty to say about false prophets in the Old and New Testaments. John the apostle warned us not to believe every spirit, but to test the spirits to see if they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1). Peter warned of false prophets arising among the people, as well as false teachers, who secretly bring in destructive heresies (2 Pet. 2:1).

That should be enough to get our attention, and that’s not the least of it.

Paul also warned the church at Corinth about false apostles and deceitful workmen (2 Cor. 11:13-15) and 2 Peter 2:3 warns us about false words. Again, this is nothing new. The Spirit of God told Jeremiah He did not send certain prophets, but they ran ahead anyway, prophesying outside the will of God—even prophesying lies in His name (Jer. 23:21, 14:14-16). And Ezekiel spoke of false prophets who liked to declare “thus saith the Lord” when the Lord did not send them (Ezek. 13:6).

As if that’s still not enough to compel you pray for greater discernment as strong delusions rise that are leading entire denominations into apostasy, Jesus Himself gave us fair warning about false prophets. Specifically, He said, “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Matt. 7:15). He also declared, “For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24:24).

So Who Are These False Prophets?

A little over three years ago, I called out the heresy being propagated by false prophets and teachers. I came under fire for not naming names in articles about rock star preachers spewing a false gospel in which I called out specific examples of false doctrine and destructive heresies in the church.

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But with all the doom and gloom and end-of-the-world predictions that crash to the ground, I got to thinking again about the false prophets about whom Jesus warned. What did He mean? Could it be those such as Chris McCann, who predicted Oct. 7 would be the end of the world? What about the late Howard Camping, who made repeated predictions that Jesus was coming back to his continual chagrin? What was Christ’s definition of a false prophet anyway?

If you dig into Matthew 24:24, you discover some insight. The word “prophets” in that verse comes from the Greek word “psuedoprophetes.” That’s not too hard to translate. Simply stated, it means “false prophet.” The longer definition is “one who, acting the part of a divinely inspired prophet, utters falsehood under the name of divine prophecies.”

The Reality of False Prophets

That word “psuedoprophetes” is used 11 times in the King James Version of the Bible. That tells me Jesus really wanted us to understand the reality of false prophets. They are real, and they really are like ravenous wolves, in partnership with a devil who roams about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8).

The reality is some of them are sitting in churches right now. Some of them are “prophelying” with judgments and curses over nations. Some of them are merchandising the sheep with credit card machines at the altar, encouraging desperate believers to pile up financial debts in much the same way as desperate unbelievers wrack up massive phone bills calling psychic hotlines that charge by the minute.

I’m not a heresy hunter. I’m not looking to catch true prophetic voices making mistakes. This article isn’t about the prophet who misses it and repents. My heart here is to issue a strong warning, a wake-up call to a church that has allowed false brethren to creep in unawares. My goal is to get you to take the warnings of Christ, Paul and Peter to heart. My objective is to get you to do what John urged: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). False prophets are rising. Don’t be deceived.

Rod Parsley was diagnosed with throat cancer. It’s not a big secret, though he has not been speaking much about it publicly—until now.

Rod Parsley is beating throat cancer.

Now, the TV host, evangelist, educator, humanitarian and statesman has shared his story with Charisma News. In part one of this interview, he shares how he discovered he had cancer, the battle that raged against his mind and how he used the Bible to battle against radiation side effects. Stay tuned to Charisma News for part two. 

Charisma News: When did you discover you had throat cancer?

Parsley: Back in early May, I started experiencing what I thought was a sore throat just from allergies or whatever and visited our family doctor. For about a month he had me on some medication for that. It didn’t go away so he then said, “Let’s have it scoped,” which I’ve done many times as a professional who uses my voice for a living and for God’s kingdom. So they did a scope and saw some abnormalities and didn’t think there was much to it.

Charisma News: But there was…

Parsley: It was a squamous cell carcinoma. It was pretty devastating news. The doctor took a look at it and said, “I’m not going to touch this as a surgeon. This is cancer, and the best option for people who make their living speaking is they go through radiation treatment.” This was pretty devastating news, and I didn’t know what all that meant. At that moment, you have to stand so firmly on your faith and not allow yourself to hear all the voices going on in your mind.

Charisma News: Cancer is never a word you want to hear.

Parsley: Immediately, Joni (his wife) gave us a word, and a word of prophecy came, and the word—I’m not going to say there weren’t any tears. I’m not going to say that didn’t send me into a very dark place for a few minutes and thereafter to war against that. This is the fight of faith. This is the adversary telling me “You’re never going to preach again. You’re never going to talk again. It’s over. You’re finished. The ministries will collapse, and you will never again take a microphone in one hand and a Bible in another.” It was devastating news, but I’ve always said if the gospel doesn’t work (in crisis) then it doesn’t work at all.

Charisma News: I understand you received radiation treatments every day for 28 days.

Parsley: We don’t like to go back there because we received the victory, but so many people are going through the same thing right now, and they look at you and our family and say, “If they can do it, so can we.”

Another verse that’s become so precious to me is that the “Blessing of the Lord makes rich and He adds no sorrow.” Now the rich people—a lot of preachers use that just about prosperity. … Rich means in fullness of salvation and all that salvation entails. The blessing of the Lord makes one rich—spirit, soul, body relationships. … He adds no sorrow with it.

When God heals, there’s no sorrow … when He heals just by divine impartation. But thank God He uses doctors and nurses and wisdom and hospitals, and thank God for that. If I had my choice, I’d just take that immediate miraculous healing. Even when God uses the mechanisms of this world for healing, and all healing comes from God. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights from whom there is no variableness or shadow or turning. If it’s good, it came from God. The thief came to kill—and sickness is limited to death. The thief came to kill, steal and destroy, but Jesus said “I came so that you may have life and that you might have it more abundantly.” So when others are involved, there is some sorrow related to it.

What you learn to do is to stand against side effects. For instance, God made the heavens and the earth and the Bible says he divided the light from the darkness. I used that, laid there on that cold, steel table, bolted down, immovable with a huge machine running around my head.

I said, “What’s the worst that can happen with radiation?” If a mistake is made, we could fry your voice box and you could never be able to speak again, so you lay there, and you say, “God, You divided light from the darkness, the day from the night, You directed David’s stone out of his slingshot. Now, I ask that you to direct this radiation. If there are cancer cells in my body, let it attack the cancer cells and let there be no side effect left in my body.

Whatever medication I take, I stand against any side effects. I say, “This medication will do exactly what God and my doctors purpose it to do, and will harm me in no way.” The Bible says, Mark 16—and I’ve stood on this, “If they drink any deadly thing, it shall not harm them,” meaning whatever comes in to my body to help bring healing will not harm me, for I’m a child of God.

When he was two years old, his university-professor parents divorced and his father and mother entered the gay lifestyle. His lesbian mom and her partner took him to gay pride parades, LGBT clubs, parties and campouts, while his father remained “closeted” for several years.

“Mom was a political activist,” says Caleb Kaltenbach, author of Messy Grace (Waterbrook Press). At gay pride parades, Kaltenbach witnessed Christian demonstrators spray homosexual marchers with water and urine.

When he asked his mom why they were doing this, she said: “Because Christians hate gay people.”

As a result, Kaltenbach wanted nothing to do with Christianity or God.

In high school, a friend invited him to a Bible study and he accepted with ulterior motives. “I thought I would pretend to be a Christian, learn about Christianity, and dismantle their arguments,” he recalls.

He had attended a mainline denominational church with his father sporadically, but was bored by it and didn’t understand the liturgy. “They never discussed God, only social issues,” he notes.

So when he grabbed a Bible off his dad’s shelf and went to the Bible study, he didn’t realize there was a difference between the Old and New Testaments. Confused when they asked him to read a verse from 1 Corinthians, he began reading from 1 Chronicles.

“I was so embarrassed, but I wouldn’t let these Christians get me down,” Kaltenbach says. He had lumped this group of believers in with the angry demonstrators he saw in the street.

But something amazing happened when he began to read the Bible for himself. 

“I really fell in love with Jesus,” he recalls. “I learned that Jesus is really not like the Christians I saw on the street corners.”

Later, he met a Christian friend at a restaurant and asked, “What do you have to do to be saved?”

As his friend, Gregg, waxed on about the realities of Jesus and His divinity, something stirred within Kaltenbach.

“As Gregg was talking, it happened,” he writes in his book. “I can’t explain it. Something just shifted inside me. I truly believed what he was saying. There was no way around it—in that moment I became a follower of Jesus.”

Baptized “covertly” almost immediately after he was born again, his dad grounded him after absorbing the shocking news. His lesbian mom and her partner were horrified when they learned, and accused him of the ultimate betrayal—siding with bigots.

The next week, Kaltenbach attended a Christ in Youth conference in southern Missouri. While there, he felt God’s call to become a pastor and confessed before everyone he wanted to be a preacher.

Soon he was attending Ozark Christian College and later, Talbot Seminary in La Mirada, California. In Southern California, he served on the staff at Shepherd of the Hills Church for 11 years.

After graduation, he accepted a call as senior pastor of a church in Dallas. Then something remarkable happened, both his parents independently made decisions to move to Dallas and began attending his church.

“What was even more incredible was that as time went on some church members were nicer to my parents than I was,” he notes. As the church loved his gay parents without judgment, their hearts began to soften.

After three years of serving in Dallas, he felt called to move back to Southern California to lead Discovery Church in Simi Valley. “Two weeks before we left Dallas, both of my parents gave their lives to the Lord!”

“I was floored … how did this happen? To this day, I’m still not sure. I do believe my parents are saved.”

In Kaltenbach’s and his family’s remarkable journey of transformation, he has developed some unique perspectives because of his upbringing.

“I believe any expression of sexuality outside of heterosexual marriage is sinful,” he says, “but I don’t believe God called me to make gay people straight.”

While Caleb holds to traditional doctrinal views, his ministry style is very open and accepting. “I completely concur that God designed sexuality to be between a man and a woman, but that’s not the first thing I talk about with somebody that’s gay,” he continues. “I want to get to know them as a person, to build a friendship.”

“I want to help them see Christ as their main identity. When they see Christ as their main identity, there is margin for discussion of holy living.”

At his church in Simi Valley, he says, “We want to be a place where you can belong before you believe.”