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Ministry Leaders Respond to Attack on Greg Locke’s Home

Ministry leaders are speaking out after a gunman targeted Pastor Greg Locke and his family late last night.

Locke shared the disturbing news on Facebook, including images of bullet holes which were marked across his truck and the family’s home, even damaging his daughter’s headboard. One of Locke’s children was at home during the incident, but thankfully they were in a different area of the house. The Locke family is safe and were escorted to a secure location.

Since this news broke, ministry leaders close to Locke and his family have spoken out about the situation and how the body of Christ should react to this heinous act of violence.

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Gunman Targets Pastor Greg Locke’s Home in Shocking Attack

Pastor Greg Locke and his family were the targets of a gunman late on Tuesday night, Sept. 3.

Locke gave the update on Facebook to let people know that he and his family were safe and unharmed, by God’s miraculous grace.

It’s 2:00 a.m. and for the last three hours our home has been a full-blown crime scene. According to the security cam footage, we pulled into our driveway exactly ONE MINUTE after a madman unloaded an entire magazine of bullets from an automatic weapon into our house, garage and my truck. The sound on the video is truly horrific. Detectives will still be here for a good while tonight.

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Beware: Spiritual Risks of Watching ‘The Deliverance’

Apostle Alexander Pagani, a deliverance minister, pastor and author, has issued a warning to believers regarding the potential spiritual dangers of viewing films like “The Deliverance.” He argues that such movies can open doors to spiritual influences that many Christians may not be equipped to handle.

Streaming now on Netflix, “The Deliverance” is one of the most viewed movies in America. The storyline is detailed by IMDB and lists it as a Horror/Thriller film.

In a case widely covered at the time, Latoya Ammons and her three children experienced strange incidents in their Gary, Indiana, home that grew progressively worse: the children were levitating, becoming violent with one another, and speaking in deep growls with no recollection afterward. Skeptics abounded, but the Gary Police Department, Department of Child Services and the local church and hospital all became involved, filing reports that took the supernatural occurrences seriously. Officers, doctors and social workers said they witnessed many of the incidents, including one in which Latoya’s 9-year-old son walked backward up a wall. The Indianapolis Star covered it closely as the Department of Child Services investigated it.

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How about some music to go with that Mother’s Day breakfast in bed or brunch out with the family?

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Check out this unique version of “Isn’t She Lovely” by contemporary Christian group Anthem Lights.

“Isn’t she lovely/ Isn’t she wonderful/ Isn’t she precious/ Such a beautiful soul.

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“I never thought/ That I would be/ Son of someone as lovely as she/ Isn’t she lovely/ She’s my mom.”

Watch the video (and be sure to break out a tissue or too as well. And Happy Mother’s Day to all!

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One of the nicest features of the first house Nancy and I owned was the beautiful rosebushes that surrounded the yard. The previous owner of the house loved to landscape, and those rosebushes were his pride and joy. Being a natural gardener herself, Nancy especially appreciated them as well.

One day, though, I came home from work and was absolutely shocked. Some vandal had decimated the rose bushes, leaving them hacked and disfigured. Who would do something like this, especially in broad daylight?

But when I walked into the house, Nancy seemed quite relaxed, so I assumed she hadn’t seen what happened. That meant it was my job to break the bad news to her.

With some level of distress, I said to her, “Someone has destroyed the rose bushes!”

She just smiled and said, “No, the gardener was here today, and he pruned them.”

I thought to myself, “That’s what pruning looks like? Seriously? Pruning is brutal!”

Suddenly, the words of Jesus came alive to me: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1-2, ESV).

God’s pruning is more painful than pleasant, but it is an act of love, making us less for the moment—sometimes quite radically less—in order to make more of us in the future.

Can you imagine how the branches feel about being pruned—hacked and cut back and chopped? But after a while, if they were sentient beings, they would know that pruning today means flourishing tomorrow.

So, yes, pruning is not pleasant. But it is necessary if we are to bear more fruit. As Jesus said, “every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

If you want to grow and bear more fruit, you will be pruned. Count on it.

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It’s the same principle when it comes to God coming as a refiner’s fire.

As described by Malachi:

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years (Mal. 3:1–4, NIV).

Gold and silver are thrown into this super-heated fire, precious metals that might look quite pure to the naked eye. But the fire brings the impurities to the surface for all to see—and the sight can be quite ugly.

That is what happens when God draws near to us with His holy fire (read Isa. 6). The fire purifies our lives, revealing the dross and burning out the impurities. Being purified by fire is not fun. Fire burns!

But God does this in order to cleanse us, not condemn us; to help us, not hurt us.

I had the extraordinary privilege of serving as a leader in the Brownsville Revival from the years 1996-2000. Contemporary church historians have called it the longest running local church revival in American history, drawing a cumulative attendance of several million people from more than 130 nations, with at least 300,000 different individuals responding to altar calls to get right with God.

Yet with this divine glory there was also divine fire.

Pastors would tell me, “I brought my people here because I thought they needed a fresh touch from God, but I was the first one to come forward and repent. God showed me the sin in my own life, and I feel as if I was born again all over again.”

I can testify firsthand that the revival fires burned out a whole lot of dross in my own life, leading to deep cleansing and repentance.

I can also testify to seasons of divine pruning in my life where, after seeking the Lord earnestly with fasting and prayer, crying out for a major ministry breakthrough, I received at first what seemed to be the opposite of what I had been praying for.

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Instead of a major expansion of our work the Lord brought about a personal pruning in my life, cutting me back for the moment so that I could grow and produce much more fruit in the years ahead. I am eternally grateful to God for those holy (and difficult) seasons.

But understanding what was happening—and remembering those rosebushes—is what helped me to embrace the divine process.

I believe something similar today is happening with the global prayer movement.

This past May, believers and intercessors around the world united in prayer for Israel, possibly mobilizing more prayer for Israel than at any one time in history.

Little did any of us know the hell that would break open in Israel later that same year, 2023.

And little did any of us know the hell that would break open in the global prayer movement, also in 2023, some of it within days of the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7.

But as painful as this process is and as much as sin is being revealed and purged, I see God’s hand at work in the midst of it.

This is a time for purging. A time for purification. A time for refining.

But rather than the prayer movement falling apart or disintegrating, I believe it is God’s intent for the movement to multiply.

Put another way, there is a division that is destructive and a division that brings growth. And if we will humble ourselves before the Lord and give ourselves unreservedly to His purposes, we can see good come out of evil and a divine plan unfold out of chaos.

So, pray this along with me: “Send Your refining fire, Lord! And start the work in me.”

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Dr. Michael Brown () is the host of the nationally syndicated The Line of Fire radio show. He is the author of over 40 books, including “Can You be Gay and Christian?”; “Our Hands are Stained with Blood”; and “Seizing the Moment: How to Fuel the Fires of Revival.” You can connect with him on Facebook, X or YouTube.

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Crusades Lead Over a Million People to Respond to the Gospel

Christ for All Nations (CfaN) broke record numbers as they held 11 crusades over a two-week time span with over 1 million people responding to the gospel.

In an exclusive interview with Charisma News, Christ for All Nations’ Macoby Donaldson said that they recently tried and succeeded at the impossible—doing 11 crusades at once across the nation of Zambia.

“We did 11 crusades in a two-week period,” Donaldson said. “And we did it for what normally would cost the same as one crusade because there’s something special.”

LIVE With John Ramirez: Declarations to Strengthen Your Position in the Spirit Realm

Based on God’s Word, I want to share with you the opportunities, blessings and authority you have to confess, declare and strengthen your position in the spirit realm. It’s so important to understand that “death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words” (Prov. 18:21). Whatever you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart should be established in the spirit realm.

Let that settle in your spirit. There is no room for error. It is crucial to not only understand the truth but also walk in it, accomplish it, confess it, declare it and decree it. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (NKJV).

Think about that. Meditate on it. It is the number one key—not only to entering heaven but also to being saved and in right standing with God. If you confess and agree with God concerning your life, your relationship with Him and your destiny, the devil won’t stand a chance against you. That’s why we are going to touch and agree with the Holy Spirit. We do both, because one hand cannot clap alone.

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Granger Smith Shares How God’s Sovereignty Flows ‘Like a River’ Even in the Middle of Tragedy

In an exclusive interview with Charisma magazine, Granger Smith shared how God’s sovereignty was working in the middle of the worst part of his life when he tragically lost his son, River.

“I have grown to trust, and believe, and surrender, to a very big God,” Smith said. “A sovereign, providential God.”

Smith got into the weeds of Genesis 50:20, a commonly misunderstood verse, and what it actually means for our lives.

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The Big Problem With the Any-Minute Rapture

Like many of you, I long for the Lord’s appearing, and my greatest dream is that He will return in my lifetime. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! But I have a real problem with setting dates for His return. And I have a real problem with the mindset that He could return at any moment. Let me explain why.

To be clear, none of us know when we will die, and in many cases, our deaths will be sudden and unexpected. So, at all times, we should live in readiness to meet the Lord. That goes without saying.

But when it comes to predicting the day (or year) of the Lord’s return, the first problem is that, to date, every single prediction, without exception, has been wrong. The failure rate is 100%. Why should anyone believe the next prediction when all previous predictions have been wrong? Based on what new, definitive data? (For the record, I’ve seen some of the “data,” and I don’t buy it for a second.)

‘The Office’ Star: Talking About Faith Will Estrange Anyone in Hollywood

Actor Rainn Wilson says he doesn’t have any “smoking guns” confirming the shunning of faith in God in Hollywood.

But, the former actor in the hit comedy “The Office” revealed recently on a podcast that talking about God and about religion in “Tinseltown” hasn’t enhanced his prospects for landing solid roles in movies or on television.

“It certainly doesn’t help my career. I’m not doing any of this for any self-promotion or career,” Wilson said during a recent appearance on the “No Small Endeavor” podcast hosted by theologian Lee C. Camp.

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Freedom Convoy Pastor Forced to Flee Canada Amid Persecution

Harold Ristau, a Canadian pastor, decorated veteran and chaplain, has made a courageous move to protect his family’s religious freedom.

Faced with persecution from the Canadian government due to his participation in a peaceful protest against COVID vaccine mandates, Ristau decided to relocate his family to Kenya, where he now finds solace in teaching theology to local pastors.

The Freedom Convoy, a group of Canadian truckers opposing vaccine mandates, embarked on a journey from British Columbia to Ottawa last February. Ristau, along with nearly 10,000 others, joined this convoy to rally against the government’s edict, which would require truckers entering Canada to be fully vaccinated against the ://

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Memorial Service for Christian Broadcasting Legend Pat Robertson Set for Monday, June 19

CBN is inviting all supporters of the ministry to join the special memorial service on Monday celebrating the life and legacy of Pat Robertson (1930 -2023).

Robertson, a longtime TV host, religious broadcaster, educator, humanitarian and one-time presidential candidate, died at his home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on June 8. He was 93.

Perhaps best known for offering prayer and political commentary at the helm of “The 700 Club,” the flagship program of the CBN media ministry, Robertson’s rise to prominence is rooted in a vision from God to create The Christian Broadcasting Network, which he founded in 1960. A prolific innovator, he also started a Christian university, a legal advocacy group and an international NGO specializing in disaster relief.

Deep Fake or Real Image? Hobby Lobby Targeted by Satanic AI Artist

A member of the Satanic Temple recently created demonic AI-generated imagery placed on the shelves inside of Hobby Lobby then posted the pictures to social media.

These images sent shockwaves through thousands of people who thought they were viewing actual statues and merchandise due to the realism of the photos.

Jennifer Vinyard, an Austin-area pharmacy technician and self-described member of the Satanic Temple, appeared to find humor in the postings mocking Christians trying to protect children from the gender ideologies in society today by saying, “I think we need to talk about what is going on at Hobby Lobby… won’t somebody please think of the children!?” in her Facebook post.

Billionaire CEO Declares Over America: ‘We Are in a Spiritual War’ 

As cultural and societal shifts continue to occur at a rapid pace, many are calling out that the friction in American society is more than what it appears to the naked eye.

Fingers are constantly pointed at the surface level issues: economics, politics, education and many more, but there is a rising number of Americans saying the root of all of these issues lays in the spiritual realm.

Goya Foods CEO Bob Unanue believes that if America does not course correct and in fact elects Joe Biden to a second term as president, then the country will be lost.

 

 

 

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Troy Black Prophesied Vegas UFO Encounter 6 Days Before It Happened

Troy Black isn’t kidding himself, and he isn’t trying to put one over on believers or the prophetic community.

The author and prophet says he knows it sounds crazy, but on April 24, he heard a prophetic word from God, and the power of God came over him and the Holy Spirit began to speak to him. Indeed, the YouTube video proclaiming this prophetic word was posted over a month ago.

Then, it was reported on Fox News Digital and Charisma News that late on April 30 and early-morning on May 1, a family in Las Vegas, Nevada, saw what they believed to be a crash landing by a UFO and a “tall, skinny alien creature with greenish color.” The family described it as “no joke” and “terrifying.”

A Supernatural Evil: A Glimpse of Hell on Earth

This might just be the strongest and most convincing advertisement for accepting Jesus as your Savior there is.

Bill Wiese, the author of “23 Minutes in Hell,” says there is one period of time during the Tribulation that will be hell on earth for those alive to experience it. He asks, “Why would any rational person reject Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and be forced to endure what is coming?”

“Some may say I exaggerated the torment I experienced in my ’23 Minutes in Hell,’” Wiese says. “However, hell can never be exaggerated by anyone. The Tribulation period will certainly be like a hell on earth. But there is one aspect that occurs during the seven-year period that is actually a supernatural evil.

Pursuing Peace When Relationships Are Difficult 

Can you think of a time when you had an ongoing issue with someone in your life? Then, just when you thought you couldn’t take another minute, God asked you to hang in there one more time and not give up?

Maybe you’ve thought, “God, I have held my tongue and kept a good attitude with this person so many times, and now You want me to play the peacemaker again? This is just too much to ask!”

God calls each one of us to be an instrument of His peace. Many times this means being the first to ask forgiveness or sticking with someone who has tried our patience over and over again. And these situations are perfect opportunities God can use to build our character, causing other people to be the “sandpaper” that smooths down the rough edges in our personality.

What happens after we die? If you ask people this question today, you will hear a variety of answers, from the traditional heaven and hell to zombies and reincarnation. For the believer in the Bible, the answer to this question is not only very important, but it is clear and without controversy. Knowing the answer to this single question can and should fundamentally change the way you plan and walk your life.

Unfortunately for many believers, our journey through life is viewed as if we were playing a game such as Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders or Parcheesi. For those unfamiliar with these games, each of them has a starting point, and the way to win is to move your game piece from that starting point to the finishing point. In the same way, many of the believers I speak to and know look at their walk as believers in this same format.

They were born, and through a series of dice rolls, they traverse the path of their life from birth until death. To them, winning the game of their lives is getting from the start square to the home square as quickly as possible with as few “move back three places” as possible. In other words, people spend their whole life trying to get to heaven as quickly as possible with as few problems physically and spiritually as possible. We have been programmed or taught to believe that our primary goal as a believer is to “get to heaven.”

The problem is that when we read the Bible, that doesn’t appear to be the primary goal of those about whom we read. For instance, Abraham sojourned in Canaan so that his grandson could dwell there. By faith, Abraham left the land of his fathers and traveled to the place where G-D would show him. But, when Abraham arrived, he didn’t say, “OK, I made it from the start square to the finish square. I am done.” No. In fact, Abraham lived his entire life as a sojourner so that his after-life would provide a place for Jacob to dwell instead of sojourning.

Moses, as a leader of Israel, lived his whole life so that in his after-life, Joshua would be able to lead the people of Israel into the promised land. If we take time to look, we will see that none of the heroes of our faith that we read about in the Bible lived their lives with a focus on making it to heaven. They all lived their lives with a purpose and goal of leaving a testimony of faithfulness, or an after-life that left a spiritual and physical inheritance to those who would still be alive.

As with all things biblical, our primary example will always be Yeshua (Jesus), who perfectly demonstrated through His life, death and Resurrection how to prepare for His after-life. Not only did He live His entire life so that when He died He provided life abundantly for those who would live in His after-life, but He also went to the world to come to prepare a place for us there.

“Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you may also be” (John 14:1-3, TLV).

I believe with all of my heart that as believers, our primary goal should not be just to make it to heaven; rather, we should focus our kingdom efforts on preparing for our after-life. Every one of us will someday leave this world. But leaving this world should not be our goal, nor should leaving this world be the focus of our prayers or actions. Our eyes should not be fixed on the home space, as if simply getting from start to home makes us winners.

In fact, living in that way doesn’t make us winners; it makes us selfish and self-serving, both of which are contrary to the fruit of the Spirit. If we want to finish our race strong, we must set our eyes not on where we will spend our afterlife. Instead, we must focus upon our after-life, as in what we will leave behind when we are no longer here.

It is way past time that we as believers realized that if we properly prepare to leave an after-life inheritance here on earth, we will also be found faithful, enter into the joy of the Lord and receive our eternal inheritance. {eoa}

Eric Tokajer is the author of “Overcoming Fearlessness, What If Everything You Were Taught About the Ten Commandments Was Wrong?,” “With Me in Paradise,” “Transient Singularity,” “OY! How Did I Get Here?: Thirty-One Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before Entering Ministry,” “#ManWisdom: With Eric Tokajer,” “Jesus Is to Christianity as Pasta Is to Italians” and “Galatians in Context.”

Read Time: 1 minutes, 29 seconds

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include information about a celebration of life service, given at the end of the article.

Freeda M. Bowers, who with her husband, Claud, co-founded and built SuperChannel WACX-TV, died on Jan. 7, 2023, as the result of complications from needed surgery, her family announced.

Dedicated to teaching people of faith about the power of prayer and equipping believers to live prosperous and fruitful lives, Bowers was a conference speaker and the author of Give Me 40 Days, a devotional designed to help readers build a deeper connection with Jesus in every area of their lives. Her life-changing messages on prayer brought revelation, healing, hope and joy to multitudes around the world.

WACX-TV, which the Bowerses founded in 1983, became one of the most powerful television stations in the Southeast United States and is ” dedicated to “providing the best in Inspirational and commercial television,” per its website. The station’s coverage now extends across Central and North Florida, from the Atlantic to the Gulf, reaching a population of more than 4 million, and also provides high-quality video streaming 24 hours a day.

The Bowerses’ daughter, Angela MacKenzie, posted the following on Facebook, noting that “Freeda was an incredible wife, mother, grandmother, Bible teacher, prayer warrior, and co-founder of Superchannel Ministries in Orlando, Florida. She and dad were married 581/2 years. … As she trusted in Jesus in life we take comfort in knowing she is with the Lord now.”

Others who knew and loved Bowers’ also responded to her death via social media. Pastor Dan Tyler of New Vision Community Church in Apopka, Florida, wrote in his post that “it was an honor and a joy for me to sit next to her at the 2022 Super Channel Christmas Banquet just 15 days ago. Our loss is Heaven’s gain”:

 

And Angela Doggett, CEO of N1 Peace, posted the following:

A celebration of life is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. at Church on the Living Edge, Longwood, Florida.

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Pastor Kent Christmas shares a powerful prophetic word in this message preached at Regeneration Nashville. Drawing from the story of the woman at the well (John 4:1-42), he tells the congregation, “God has always done His greatest work outside the box.”

Christmas speaks of the unconventional ways God worked throughout both Scripture and history, proclaiming, “God is God, and He said this: ‘My ways are not your ways.'” He points out that since it was unconventional and unacceptable to the Jews for Jesus even to set foot in Samaria, He sent His disciples away so they wouldn’t hinder His work.

“Sometimes it’s the religious people that are the greatest hindrance to the move of the Lord, because they get so steeped in tradition and so steeped in self-righteousness that when God stares them in the face, they can’t see Him because they’re saying, ‘We don’t do it like this,’ and God says, ‘But you don’t know,'” Christmas says. “‘My ways are not your ways. I’m going to mess your theology up; I’m going to change the way you have church. I’m going to come in the back door. I’m going to save some people that you don’t think ought to be saved.'”

To learn more about how God will not allow Himself to be boxed in, watch the rest of Christmas’ message above or at this link.